Early Imprint: Quil's Story
by IamKate
Summary: Quil Ateara imprinted on Claire Young when she was two and got punched in the face for it. How does Quil handle his imprint as she ages through the years? Here's Quil's story with all the ups and downs when you have an "Early Imprint." Canon/Dark Themes
1. Early Imprint

**Early Imprint (Quil's Story) – Rated M for Adult Themes and Strong Language. Per site rules, you need to be at least 16 to read. **

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all Twilight characters.

_A/N – This is a spin-off to my other story First Imprint (Sam's Story). If the story ends up struggling or you just don't like it, then I'll stop writing it, so feedback would be very helpful. _

_Warning: This story will deal with some dark subjects in later chapters that may not be comfortable for all audiences._

**Chapter 1 – Early Imprint**

Quil's POV

When I woke up this morning, I never expected anything out of the ordinary to happen. I thought it would be just your average day of turning into a wolf to hunt some vampires. You know, your typical day at the office.

I had just joined the pack a month before. The weeks leading up to that life changing event had been dismal as my two best friends suddenly dropped me and wouldn't have anything to do with me. It wasn't until I became a wolf myself that I realized that Jacob and Embry had actually been trying to protect me by staying away.

We were meeting at our Alpha leader Sam's house for lunch before patrolling. A bloodsucker had been hunting in the area and we were having trouble getting her. We had nicknamed her the elusive vampire.

Jacob, Embry, and I had walked into Sam's house to find Emily in the kitchen preparing lunch. We offered to help, but she preferred people to stay out of her way when she was cooking. She told us the only thing she wanted was some help carrying a tray of food into the living room. Embry offered to help with that chore which was fine by me.

As soon as I had gotten to Sam's house, I had felt an anxious urge to go into his living room. It was kind of baffling really, because it was just another meeting before hunting for the leech. No reason to have this strange pulling feeling. I felt as though it had become essential to my life to get into that room.

"Jacob, Quil, these are my nieces, Cora and Claire," I heard Sam say as we walked into the room.

I saw a little girl sitting on Leah's lap and I smiled in her direction as she half-heartedly waved back. Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw a little figure move from behind Sam's legs where she had been hiding and walked straight in my direction.

She was no more than two-years-old. She looked at me with her hand proffered for me to shake. She had light brown hair that reached her shoulders and a smile that showed she still had some teeth that hadn't grown in yet. But it was when I looked into her dark brown eyes that everything changed.

My world shifted and I felt that weird pull suddenly latch around both myself and this little girl like a vice. Everything that was important to me…my love for my parents and sister, the love I felt for Jacob and Embry and the rest of the pack…all of it faded into the background as I stared at Claire. My whole world suddenly seemed to begin and end with her. Nothing else mattered or existed.

I bent down to shake her hand. What I really wanted to do was pick her up and hold her close so that nothing could ever harm her. Nothing _would_ ever harm her. I would kill anyone who tried to hurt Claire with my bare hands.

I heard Paul mutter something that sounded like "ew" but I couldn't be too sure. I heard Embry say something, but it was also muffled. Their voices seemed be coming from far away. Almost as though they were coming out of a transistor radio that had staticky reception.

Before I knew it, Claire was ripped away from me by Sam. He put her into Emily's arms. I didn't understand their reaction, but I didn't dwell on it as my attention stayed firmly on Claire. She was like a beacon of light in the middle of a storm.

"You. Outside. Now." I heard Sam say although I could barely make out the words as I continued to stare at Claire. She had begun to squirm in her aunt's arms as she called out for me.

"Qwil," Claire cried.

I wanted desperately to go to her and take away her pain. It tore at my heart, but all of a sudden I felt a shove. Before I knew it, I was outside. I blinked in surprise. I thought I heard Sam say something about phasing, but I was too focused on Claire who I could hear crying inside the house.

I felt something smash into my face with surprising force. I fell backwards under the impact and ended up staring up at the sky. I was surprised to find myself in this position. Since turning into a wolf, very little could have knocked me on my ass, but that was exactly what had happened. My cheek throbbed painfully as I stared up at Sam who was standing over me trembling, his hand still in a fist. What the hell?

Before I could ask why he had punched me, I heard Claire's crying reach a hysterical level. Was she hurt? I panicked at the idea and tried to get back to her, but Sam wouldn't let me. Instead, he pushed me towards the forest. I began to shake hard. What was his problem? I managed to take off my clothes a couple of seconds before I phased. I felt Sam phase soon after.

"What the hell did you punch me for?" I yelled, fury driving the heat up and down my spine.

"Show me what just happened," Sam commanded using his Alpha voice.

I felt the weight of his order hit me forcefully, making me drop to the ground. I immediately showed him what happened from the moment I got to the house and felt the strange pull, to when I looked into Claire's eyes and knew I would die before letting her come to any harm. I could feel his relief as he realized there was nothing romantic in what I felt for his two-year-old niece. The idea made me sick to my stomach.

"Of course there wasn't anything romantic, what the hell kind of fucking pervert do you think I am?" I shouted. "I just want to protect her, keep her safe. I'm not in love with a two-year-old. That's just sick."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. And I'm sorry I punched you," Sam told me. "I just needed to see what was going on. I've never heard of someone imprinting on someone that young before."

We phased back and put our clothes back on. As soon as we walked into the house, I knew that Claire was in the kitchen. For one thing, I could hear her crying still…god, how that sound pained me. For another thing, I could feel the connection between us. I knew that I'd be able to find her anywhere.

As much as I wanted to see Claire and reassure myself that she was all right, I finally glanced around and noticed for the first time that my pack brothers wouldn't look at me. They were busy eating sandwiches and didn't even acknowledge my presence. Great, so now everyone thought I was some freaking pedophile. It hurt that my pack could think me capable of something like that. I couldn't even picture the day I'd see Claire all grown up and would want to marry her. All I could see was a sweet little kid who I wanted to shelter and protect.

"Cool it guys. Quil's not looking to run off with Claire or anything," Sam told them and went on to explain what I had shown him when I imprinted. As Sam continued his explanation, I saw the pack visibly relax.

"So that happened, huh?" Embry snickered, coming over to me to elbow me in the ribs.

"Dude, I thought we were going to have to haul your ass off to jail or something," Jared laughed. I tried to smile, but I could hear Claire's crying getting worse. I couldn't focus on anything other than that.

Sam, noticing my distraction, sighed and said, "Come on Quil, I think we need to reassure some freaked out females."

When we walked into the kitchen, I saw Cora drawing in a coloring book on the kitchen table. She kept looking at her sister, whose cries were getting heartbreakingly louder. As soon as I came into view, Claire went from hysterics to soft whimpers.

"Qwil, I want Qwil," Claire called out. The longing to just hold her and comfort her, overwhelmed me. I couldn't believe the pain I felt because she was in pain too.

"Em, Leah, its okay," Sam said and explained again what I had shown him. "Leah, why don't you go and eat before the guys finish off all the sandwiches. We have a long afternoon ahead of us."

"Are you sure?" Leah asked. She continued to glare at me. I almost snorted. She could go ahead and try to keep me away from Claire. It wasn't happening.

"Yeah, it's fine," Sam promised. Leah nodded stiffly and left the kitchen.

Sam walked over to Emily and kissed her cheek before leaning over to pat Claire on the head. Claire was still softly whimpering, her eyes pleading for me to take her.

"Em, why don't you let Quil take Claire for awhile? I'm sure she'll calm down once he holds her." Sam implored then whispered something into her ear.

I probably would have been able understand what he was telling her, but I had lost focus when Claire started reaching out for me again. Whatever he said to Emily worked because she walked over and handed Claire to me. Claire jumped into my open arms and began to laugh.

"Why don't you and I get something to eat…unless our family made pigs of themselves and ate everything already," I told her.

Claire smiled and started making snorting noises and saying, "piggies!" As we left the room, I heard Cora skip behind us. When we walked into the living room, I grabbed the two sandwiches that were left on the tray and sat with Claire on my lap as I ate hungrily. Cora sat next to Embry on the floor eating the other sandwich.

"Bread please," Claire pleaded and I ripped off a tiny piece of my sandwich for her to eat. I couldn't deny her anything.

I couldn't believe how much my life had changed in such a short time. Over a month ago, I thought I had lost my two best friends and I had never felt so alone. Now I was surrounded by my brothers and sister.

Claire wrapped her tiny arms around my neck and buried her face against my throat where she promptly fell asleep. I held her closer, feeling grateful for this day. Out of all the miraculous changes that had happened to me in the span of a few months, Claire was the most important. It was hard for me to fathom that this little girl would grow up someday and would be the woman I was meant to be with forever. If she chose to be with me that is.

_A/N – I hope you liked the first chapter. I'm not going to repeat everything that happened in "First Imprint (Sam's Story), but I wanted to show you Quil's imprinting from his perspective. Please leave a review and let me know what you think._


	2. Rifles & Crowns

**Chapter 2 – Rifles & Crowns**

Quil's POV

In the three months since I imprinted, my life had become somewhat routine. Every day I would patrol and then around Claire's bedtime, I would run up to Makah and would sit outside her house for a few hours before I had to head back to my reservation to go back on patrol. Luckily for me, I was on summer break and I didn't have a social life anymore. I had broken up with my girlfriend of six months a few months before I imprinted on Claire and the only people I wanted to hang out with were in my pack.

Sometime, if I got really lucky on my nightly jaunts to Makah, I would get a glimpse of Claire through her bedroom window as one of her parents, Stacy or Ronnie, put her to bed. It sometimes bothered me that I was basically stalking a two-year-old. I even tried once to not go up and see her, but the pain it caused me was something I never wanted to go through again. It had physically hurt to the point where it had crippled me. Even if I wasn't able to see her physically on my nightly visits, I could still hear her breathing from the house. The sound soothed away any agitation I felt when I couldn't see her.

The good news was that we had caught the elusive redheaded vampire and Edward Cullen, one of our allied enemies had been the one to kill her. Her death took place during an event that we nicknamed the Newborn War. We had been attacked by 20 crazed, out-of-control vampires, but we were able to get rid of them within minutes. Of course, we had some help from the Cullen family. I don't think I'll ever forget the image of Emmett Cullen taking a newborn's decapitated head and bouncing it on his knee like a soccer ball.

And now that the threat of mass bloodsuckers was over, I could concentrate more fully on my obsessive need to make sure that no harm came to Claire. Emily Young, Claire's aunt had been my greatest champion. She was an imprintee herself and knowing how painful it was for a wolf to stay away from their imprint, had talked her brother and sister-in-law into letting me watch Claire and Cora, Claire's older sister, on occasion.

Emily had explained to them that Sam was basically considered chief of the Quileute tribe. She had told them that Sam and a few of his friends, me included, were considered "bodyguards" of the tribe without adding the detail that we morphed into wolves whenever our tempers hit us. Because Claire and Cora were part of Emily's family, they were also under the protection of the Quileute bodyguards. She managed to convince them that I was the best person to babysit the girls.

While her brother I think secretly thought I was some sexual deviant, Stacy had looked at me with relief. She was pregnant with her third child and was willing to accept any help she could get. I spent most weekends now driving to Makah to watch Claire and Cora while Ronnie and Stacy ran out to do errands or have date nights.

Another thing that helped turn the tide in my favor of getting more Claire time was that ever since I had imprinted on Claire she had become quite unruly. Emily told me that Claire had become incredibly restless after I met her the first time and constantly asked for me. After I made a special trip to Makah with Emily, I had talked to Claire and told her to be a good girl for her parents. It was during this trip that Emily had talked Ronnie and Stacy into letting me babysit Claire and Cora. My talk with Claire seemed to work, because she had become more settled after I had spoken with her. Stacy now thought I had a gift with children and called me all the time to help with hers. Not that I minded one bit.

I would have been perfectly satisfied with my life if it weren't for the fact that one of my best friends, Jacob Black had taken off in wolf form into the wilderness of Canada. He had had his heart broken by Bella Swan who had gotten engaged to the bloodsucker Edward Cullen around the same time as the Newborn War. Jacob had been injured during the war, but as soon as he recovered, he had taken off.

Bella was to be married in a week or so. Embry and I tried to talk Jacob into coming home, but he refused to listen. He especially didn't want to hear my pleas for him to return now that I had imprinted myself and he could sense my utter happiness.

I pushed Jacob out of my head as I made my way to the Makah reservation. Elation rushed over me. I was going to get to spend the whole day with Claire because today was her third birthday. I kept humming her favorite _Sesame Street_ song, "_Rubber Ducky_."

Claire's parents were throwing her a "princess party," whatever that meant. I had been invited basically because Claire had apparently thrown a temper tantrum and insisted that I come. As Stacy was seven months pregnant, all she wanted was peace and quiet and immediately caved in. Sam and Emily were going to be up later in the day and Eva and Roger, Emily and Ronnie's parents, were also going to be there.

I pulled up to the house and went quickly to the front door. I was a couple hours early, but I wanted to spend time with Claire before her friends got there. I carried her present with me. It was a children's book about wolves that even made howling noises when you pressed certain buttons.

Stacy answered the door after the third knock. She seemed frazzled, with her ponytail slanted sideways and hair coming down in certain parts. Stacy was half Makah, half German. She had the same light brown hair that Claire had, but while Claire had inherited her father's brown eyes, Emily had told me that Stacy had hazel green eyes. I had to ask because Stacy was slightly out of focus to me, especially in the face.

It was baffling how the imprint process worked. Ever since I had imprinted, I found that all women were slightly blurry to me. I couldn't see their faces in clearly anymore. The only time a woman became clear to me was when she was in serious danger or pain. The only female besides Claire that I could see in focus was Leah, but I figured that had to do with her being a werewolf.

"Quil, thank God you're here," Stacy said, welcoming me into the house. "Claire has been asking for you nonstop for the past two hours."

I looked around eagerly for Claire, expecting her to come running out at me like she normally did. I could sense that she was nearby thanks to the pull that existed between us. Stacy and I walked through the living room, going down the hall that led to the back of the house where the kitchen was. As soon as we walked into the kitchen, Stacy walked over to the counter and immediately started frosting cupcakes.

I glanced around for Claire again. Stacy seeing me, said, "I put her down for her afternoon nap. She's going to need the sleep before the party starts. Her friends should be here in a couple of hours and I still have to get the decorations up."

"I can help if you want." I offered feeling slightly depressed that I wouldn't be able to spend some private time with Claire before her party.

Stacy eagerly accepted my offer and I went into the living room to hang up pink balloons and banners of the different Disney princesses. Cora helped by telling me all about Princess Aurora and Princess Ariel, her two favorite princesses. She explained to me that when she turned five in January, she was going to have a _Dragon Tales_ birthday party. I had no idea what she was talking about so I just smiled and nodded.

I had just finished hanging up the banners and was blowing up another pink balloon when Ronnie walked in. He looked at me funny. I know he didn't really understand why a guy my age would want to spend time looking after a couple of girls. While he understood I was considered a protector of his sister and all of her family members, it still baffled him. I didn't care what he thought of me or my reasons for being so willing to babysit, as long as he kept letting me have rare contact with Claire. Thank God Emily and Sue had convinced him I was trustworthy, otherwise I wouldn't even be allowed that.

"So…uh…Ed, my neighbor next door, and I are going to go out wolf hunting. Do you want to come?" Ronnie asked, eyeing me warily. He probably didn't think I was man enough to go with him.

Witnesses had noticed a large brown wolf coming close to the Makah reservation at night for the past month. While the wolf, the wolf being me, didn't actually do anything, the few times that the wolf had been spotted had apparently made everyone nervous. A group of people on the reservation had decided to make up a hunting posse.

One time they did come close to shooting me. I had noticed Stacy holding Claire while standing near a window one night and I stepped out of the woods for a closer look. I had been so distracted by the sight of my imprint that I didn't hear the small group of hunters, Ronnie included, until it was almost too late. I had luckily jumped back into the woods in time to avoid being shot. I almost told Ronnie not to waste his time with this hunting expedition because he wouldn't catch anything. But on the flip side, I wanted to maintain a good relationship with Claire's father.

"Sure, I'll go," I replied, quickly tying the pink balloon that I had just blown up and taping it to the wall.

"You know how to handle a rifle?" Ronnie asked.

"Yeah, my grandfather and I used to hunt together. It's been awhile, but I think I remember." I told him.

"Fine," Ronnie said, waving with his hand for me to follow him.

We went into his den where he had his cabinet of guns. He pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the case, handing me one rifle, while he grabbed another. He grabbed some shells and we made our way outside. His neighbor Ed was waiting for us. Ed was balding, but he wore what was left of his scraggily grey hair to his shoulders. He was wearing a black t-shirt and camouflage hunting pants, even though it was the beginning of August.

We made our way to the forest and loaded our rifles. We walked for awhile in dead silence. I almost rolled my eyes when Ed said we had to be quiet because we didn't want to scare "the wolf" away. How ridiculous was it that I was spending precious time away from Claire, even though she was sleeping, so that I could hunt myself?

Finally after a couple of hours, Ronnie said we needed to get back to the house for Claire's birthday party. We made our way back to the edge of the forest and unloaded the rifles before flipping on the safety of each gun. We made our way through the back entrance of the house that led into the kitchen. I could hear the excited chatter of about six little girls coming from the front of the house where the living room was.

As soon as I stepped foot into the house, I heard one set of little feet quickly make their way down the hallway. Turning quickly I handed Ronnie his rifle a few seconds before Claire ran into me, wrapping her little arms half way around my legs. Ronnie huffed as his daughter ignored him and muttered to himself as he made his way back to the den with the two rifles.

"Qwil!" Claire shouted, trying to jump up. I reached down and pulled her up quickly, hugging her close. She pressed kisses all over my cheek and chin.

"Happy birthday, birthday girl!" I told her, lifting her up over my head.

Claire squealed with laughter. I hugged her close again and she wrapped her arms tightly around my neck and buried her face into it. I carried her back into the living room where Ronnie and Emily's parents waited with Stacy, Cora, and four other little girls ranging between Claire and Cora's ages. Ronnie soon came in and we started piling presents around Claire for her to open.

Claire ripped open the presents with glee. Her parents had bought her a stroller with a doll included. Her grandparents gave her a tricycle. Her friends gave her an assortment of different toys. Right before Claire opened my present, Sam and Emily walked in. Roger and Ronnie got up to shake Sam's hand. They still didn't trust him with their beloved Emily, but they were more accepting of Sam now that he and Emily were engaged.

I sat on the floor next to Claire while she finished opening up my present. She hugged the present close and climbed into my lap and began to press the buttons in the book to make the wolves' howl. When Claire heard these noises she shrieked and started making howling noises too. Soon all her friends were howling. Sam looked at me and cocked an eyebrow up, but I merely shrugged as a slight smile crept over my face. Emily handed Claire one more gift, a makeup set made for little girls, which Claire loved.

The women decided to move the party outside where the girls could play with Claire's new toys. Ronnie, Sam, and Roger decided to stay in and watch the Mariners game. I was about to sit on the couch next to Sam when Claire grabbed my hand.

"No Qwil, you come too," Claire insisted, looking at me with pleading eyes. She pulled on my hand and I automatically started to walk outside with her. I couldn't resist her for anything. I could hear Sam snickering behind me.

"Whipped!" Sam said softly enough that only I could hear with my extra sensory hearing.

"Look who's talking," I muttered back. I closed the front door on his laughter.

"Ok girls. Who wants a crown?" Eva said, passing out plastic pink crowns to all the little girls. Claire grabbed one and handed it to me.

"Uh, I think that's for you Claire-bear," I told her, trying to hand it back to her.

"No, you wear Qwil," Claire insisted. I looked down into Claire's warm brown eyes and with a sigh grabbed the crown and put it on. Claire began to clap, drawing the attention of Emily, Stacy, and Eva.

"Now you pretty, Qwil," Claire said, smiling at me.

"Yes, you're very pretty, Quil," Emily said laughing while taking pictures of me. I could feel my ears turn red. Thank God Sam was in the house. I'd have to think of a way to get the camera away from Emily so that I could erase the pictures before she showed them to anyone.

"You know what Claire, I bet Quil would love to try on your new makeup," Emily called out.

I stared at her in horror. What crime had I committed against Emily to make her hate me so much? Was it because I imprinted on her niece when she was only two? Was this Emily's diabolical way of getting revenge on me? It wasn't like I could help it. I looked with a sinking heart as Claire jumped up and down and raced to get her new makeup kit.

Soon I had all six little girls rubbing makeup into my skin. Emily stood by laughing, not making eye contact as she continued to snap pictures. I was just thankful that Sam and the other guys were in the house. It was then that I heard the front door slowly creek open. I could hear three different pairs of feet step into the front yard. Mortifying heat rushed up my neck, turning my face bright red.

'Boy Quil, don't you look cute," Sam laughed. I gritted my teeth just as Claire took bright red lipstick and rubbed it on my cheek.

"I gotta ask," I heard Ronnie whisper even though I could hear him as clearly as if he were standing right next to me, "Is your friend gay?"

Chuckling, Sam responded, "No, just a sucker for kids."

After the girls had declared me perfect, in other words, they ran out of space on my skin to put makeup on, they ran to play with Claire's other toys. I stood up with my head held high, the pink crown still standing proudly on top of my head. Emily came over and hugged me gently, being careful to avoid my arms which were also covered in makeup.

"Thanks Quil for being a good sport," Emily said, her eyes shinning with mirth. "Stacy needed a break and the girls kept coming up to her. She got the rest she needed."

Knowing that I helped a pregnant woman helped ease my embarrassment slightly. I made my way to the bathroom in the house and began scrubbing at my skin with the washcloth Stacy had provided. My eyelids and lips were covered in sticky blue makeup. My cheeks were beat red from the makeup and the humiliation I felt. My arms were a plethora of different colors. I scrubbed my skin hard with soap and water. I was able to get most of it out, but I was still able to see traces of makeup all over my exposed skin.

Sighing, I gave up and went back out, leaving my pink crown on the top of the toilet. I couldn't help but wonder how badly I had damaged my reputation in the eyes of Ronnie and Roger. Ronnie already thought I was questionable. I'm sure the image he had of me earlier holding a rifle would be forever replaced with the image of me wearing a crown and makeup. Once I walked outside again, Claire ran over and grabbed my hand and insisted that I sit next to her while she blew out her candles on her birthday cake.

After a couple of hours, the other girls' parents picked up their children. Emily and Eva changed Claire and Cora into their pajamas. I was about to leave when Emily came up to me and told me that Claire wanted me to read her a bed time story.

I walked into the room where Claire was waiting patiently for me, holding the wolf book I had gotten her for her birthday. She was wearing a pink Care Bear nightgown and was covered partially with a purple bed sheet. She was the picture of innocent youth. I knew I would do anything for her, including wearing makeup in front of my Alpha leader.

I read her the book and pressed the buttons. She made the growling noises but I could tell she was getting tired by the constant drooping of her eyelids. I put the book softly on the table next to her kid sized bed and leaned over and kissed her forehead.

"Night Claire-bear," I whispered.

"Night Qwil, thank you for my burd-day present. I love you," Claire said before turning on her side and falling instantly asleep.

"I love you too, kid," I replied softly, my heart turning over as I stared at her.

As I looked down at her, I let the contentment I had been feeling seep over me. I pulled the blanket gently up over her shoulder and turned and walked out of the room. Reflecting on the day, I realized one important thing. Her happiness was worth my humiliation.

_A/N – Thank you to everyone who left me a review on my first chapter. Please know that they are greatly appreciated. I love feedback, so please leave me some more comments!_


	3. Temper Tantrum

**Chapter 3 – Temper Tantrum**

Quil's POV

Sam, Emily, and I were headed up to Makah. It was a rare beautiful day for this area. Considering it was September, it was warm and sunny. Sam, Ronnie, and I were going to watch the Seahawks season opening game and then the family was going to spend time at the beach. I was really looking forward to getting away from my reservation for awhile, plus, I couldn't wait to see Claire.

Jacob came back a couple of weeks ago and almost ruined his friend Bella Swan's wedding. He had completely lost control during the reception and almost phased while he was dancing with the bride. Luckily, Seth Clearwater, Sam, and I had been there before any damage could be done. But I knew that Jacob was worried about Bella. Bella had wanted to be turned into a vampire and Jacob had figured it would happen on her honeymoon. I felt bad for him, but his depressing, distracted behavior made it hard to be in his head for too long.

We pulled into Ronnie's driveway and we made our way into the house. Claire and Cora both ran to us. Cora wrapped her arms around Sam for a quick hug before moving to Emily for the same thing. Claire ran straight to me and lifted her arms for me to pick her up. I bent down and lifted her up. She immediately kissed me on the cheek before resting her head on my shoulder while her hand reached up to lay against my other cheek.

Ronnie walked into the living room and offered Sam a beer. He looked at me with Claire and rolled his eyes.

"Game's almost on, you just got here on time," Ronnie said, making his way back to the kitchen with us following him. We grabbed our drinks, beer for Ronnie and Sam, and a Coke for me, and made our way back to the living room.

Emily and Stacy stayed in the kitchen with Cora where I could hear them discussing baby stuff. Stacy had a little over a month left in her pregnancy. They still didn't know if the baby was a boy or girl. They had tried to find out at first but the baby had turned in a way where they couldn't see. After that first attempt, Stacy had decided that she wanted to be surprised. I knew that Ronnie was hoping for a boy though.

I settled onto the couch, still holding Claire. She climbed off my lap a minute later and ran off in the direction of her room. The game had just started when Claire came back into the room, dragging a case of dolls with her.

"Here Qwil, this for you," Claire said, handing me a doll with purple hair. She brought out two other dolls and had them dancing on my legs. I moved the doll she had given me back and forth so that it could dance with hers. Claire started giggling.

"Sit!" Claire ordered, pointing to the floor.

"Claire, leave him alone, he's trying to watch the game, honey," Ronnie said in an exasperated manner.

"I don't mind," I replied, sitting on the floor with Claire. Ronnie's eyes turned flinty as I gave in so easily to his daughter's command.

We played dolls for a little while longer. I kept getting distracted though by the game.

Claire finally had enough and put the dolls to the side. She grabbed my hand and started tugging.

"Bweach now, Qwil," Claire pleaded. I couldn't resist her and started getting up.

"Claire, you are going to have to wait for the beach until we're done watching football," Ronnie said, steel in his voice. He gave me a look that dared me to interfere.

"Sorry Claire, we're going to have to wait." I said sadly. While I wanted to give in badly, I also knew that I had already pushed Ronnie far enough. As much as I loved Claire, she was his daughter. If he didn't want her to leave the house, then I would respect that.

"Pwease Qwil, pweeease," Claire begged as tears formed in her eyes. I shook my head slowly and felt pain shoot over my body. Claire laid down on the floor and threw the mother of all tantrums. I think it was the first time I ever refused her anything.

Ronnie got out of his chair and picked her up. He put her in a chair across the room. Pointing his finger at her he told her, "You've earned a time out. You stay there until you say sorry."

Claire sat in the chair and covered her little hands over her mouth and sobbed dramatically. She balled her eyes out for five minutes straight. Ronnie and Sam discussed the different plays of the game calmly while I sat stiffly on my end of the couch. It hurt to hear Claire cry, knowing that I couldn't go and comfort her. After a while, her cries slowed down to whimpers. It was half-time when Claire finally said, "Swarry Daddy."

"Say sorry to Quil and Sam too," Ronnie said, giving me a warning glare when I opened my mouth to protest.

"Swarry Unca Sam, Swarry Qwil," Claire looked at me but I could see the betrayal in her eyes. My heart cracked slightly at that look.

"It's ok Claire-bear." I told her.

Rolling his eyes at me, Ronnie said, "Ok, Claire, you can get down now."

Claire jumped down from the chair and ran past me without even looking in my direction. I felt a throbbing pain throughout my body. God did it suck to go against your imprint's wishes. It was like reliving Sam's pain when he and Emily had been fighting before the Newborn War. Luckily for him, Emily made up to him by seducing him…an image that Sam hadn't been able to quite hide fast enough the morning of the war. Luckily no one commented on it, especially Leah.

Sam looked over at me and seeing my stiff, pained expression, lightly punched me the arm.

"Good game, huh?" Sam said, but looked at me with a mix of sympathy and caution.

"Good game," I responded, forcing myself to relax and slump back against the couch.

When the third quarter was half way through, Claire came back in and sat down next to my legs holding her wolf book. She looked at the pictures but didn't press any of the buttons to activate the wolf noise. Slowly, Claire leaned against my leg. I reached down and caressed the top of her head and that was all it took. Claire put down her book and crawled into my lap where she promptly fell asleep. I held her close, breathing in the sweet scent of her baby shampoo.

After the game ended, I woke up Claire so that we could go to the beach. She and Cora ran into their rooms to change into their swimsuits with Emily and Stacy following behind to help. We made our way to the beach dragging beach chairs, towels, and sun block. It was late afternoon, but the weather was still warm.

"Swim pwease," Claire said, looking at me with excited eyes, her earlier angst forgotten. I went to grab her but Ronnie moved quickly and picked her up in his arms.

"I'll take you, Claire," Ronnie said not even looking back at me.

I looked out at the water. The waves seemed calm enough but in the distance I could see darker clouds rolling in. I watched as Claire and Ronnie made their way into the water. Claire laughed as a wave hit them. I sat down on the beach and felt a pat on my hand. I looked over and saw Stacy's blurry face looking in my direction.

"He's just jealous, you know." Stacy said.

"Jealous?" I asked.

"Because Claire seems to prefer you. He thinks that Claire loves you more than him." Stacy told me. I looked away shaking my head.

I had an incredible feeling of unease wash over me a second before Ronnie and Claire were hit by a large wave. Both went under. I jumped to my feet as my breath rapidly increased. Panic and anxiety made me start to tremble. Moments later Ronnie's head broke the surface. Claire was not with him.

"Claire!" I heard Ronnie shout even as I ran into the water. I could sense that Sam was behind me but with the adrenaline of the moment I pushed ahead of him. I saw Ronnie frantically feel around in the water seconds before I dove under the surface.

Even as I swam I could feel the connection between my imprint and me. I swam in the direction that I knew she was in. The salt burned my eyes, but I could still see Claire a short distance away. She had been under the water approximately 30 seconds already and I prayed I would get to her in time. I could see her twisting and turning, but thankfully she was still conscious. With an extra burst of energy, I pushed forward and grabbed her arm. Pulling the back of her to my chest, I wrapped my arm around her and pushed to the surface.

We broke free of the water and I heard Claire gasp for air seconds before a wave hit us. We went back under, but my grip didn't loosen on Claire. We hit the surface again and I started swimming for the shore. Claire clung to my arms weakly even as she cried frightened sobs.

"I've got you Claire-bear," I assured her.

"Qwil," Claire cried.

"I won't let you go Claire, I promise" I told her, holding her closer.

"She ok?" I heard Sam shout as he swam over to me.

"Yeah, I think so…just scared," I answered as I continued even strokes back to the shore.

I could feel the current trying to drag us back under, but it was no match for me. I could see Ronnie and Stacy standing close to the shore, both had their eyes glued to me. Stacy was in perfect focus. When the water was shallow enough that I could stand, I put an arm under Claire's legs and carried her back to the shore.

"Let me see my baby," Stacy demanded, running over to me as fast as she could.

"Momma," Claire cried. Stacy grabbed Claire out of my hands and held her tight. Ronnie wrapped his arms around his wife and child as Claire started crying harder. Cora also ran over and put her hand on Claire's foot as though to reassure herself that her sister was alright.

"I'm sorry baby, I'm so sorry," Ronnie kept whispering and I could see his arms tighten around his family.

I stood looking at him as rage filled me, causing my hands to tremble harder then they already were. His stupid, hurt pride almost killed Claire. I wanted to go over and rip his face off.

Sam, seeing my reaction, grabbed my arm as I made a step towards Ronnie and ordered in a hushed voice, "Calm down."

Emily walked over to me and gave me a hug, "Thank you Quil."

Ronnie broke away from his family and walked over to me as well. He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a hug before hitting me on the back affectionately with his fist.

"I'll never be able to thank you enough." Ronnie said as he pulled back. The tears in his eyes were the only thing that stopped me from attacking him. The sorrow in his face made me almost forgive him…almost.

"I can see why they call you guys' protectors," Ronnie said, nodding to both me and Sam. He turned and went back to his family. He pulled Claire out of his pregnant wife's arms and took over holding her. Stacy still kept on arm around Claire, as though to reassure herself that Claire was really alright.

Things changed between Ronnie and me after that day. It would be a long time before Ronnie ever looked at me suspiciously again.

The following weekend Stacy brought Claire down with her to the Quileute reservation. She and Eva, Emily's mom, came down to go shopping with Sam and Emily. They were getting things ready for Sam and Emily's wedding. I got a call from Sue Clearwater early that morning asking me if I wanted to watch Claire while Stacy was out shopping. Sue was staying behind, but had an Elder's meeting and couldn't watch Claire. Cora had apparently stayed at Makah with her father.

I surprised Claire by taking her to First Beach. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the water. She clung to my hand tightly and I felt her little body begin to tremble. I knelt down in front of her.

"You don't have to be afraid, Claire. I don't ever want you to be scared, cause I'll always take care of you, ok?" I asked, looking into her warm brown eyes. She nodded feebly and wrapped her arms around my neck, getting into her favorite pose of burying her face into my neck.

We played on the beach for a half hour. Soon Claire started getting more daring and splashing in the shallows of the water. Her pants were soon soaked. She squealed and laughed as another wave gently hit her legs. I shook my head as I looked at her drenched body.

"Keep out of the water, Claire. C'mon." I said laughing. This was the second warning I had to give her already. She looked at me slyly before running back to the water.

"No, don't," I warned just as another wave hit her feet, spray hitting her shirt. "Oh! Nice, kid. Seriously, do you want Emily to yell at me?"

Claire took a few steps towards me and grabbed the bucket I had brought with us. She turned back and ran to the edge of the water. "I'm not bringing you back to the beach again if you don't--"

I watched as she reached into the water with the bucket and filled it part way. She walked towards me with an angelic look on her face. I knew what her intentions were as she pulled the bucket back.

"Oh yeah? Don't--" I told her a second before she threw the water on me.

"Ugh." I pulled my wet shirt away from body. She had incredible accuracy. Claire ran back to the water for a refill, giggling uncontrollably the entire time.

"You think that's funny, do you?" I grabbed her ankles and hung her upside down. She held onto the bucket still laughing. "Hah! Who's laughing now, huh?"

"Five bucks on the baby girl," I heard a voice say.

I turned and looked. Jacob was standing a few feet away with a slight smile on his face. Jacob still hadn't heard any news about Bella and I knew his worry never left him. To top off his misery, Paul, the wolf in our pack with the worst temper, had recently imprinted on Jacob's sister, Rachel. Paul was pretty much camped out at the Black house now, much to Jacob's disgust.

"Hey, Jake." I said. Claire was still hanging upside down. She threw the bucket at my knees and demanded, "Down, down."

I gently placed her on her feet and she ran over to Jacob, hugging his knees. "Unca Jay!"

On the few occasions that Claire had hung out with pack members since I imprinted on her, she had gotten in the habit of calling them "Unca."

"How's it going, Claire?" Jake smiled down at Claire.

"Qwil aaaaall wet now." Claire laughed, looking over at me. I smiled stupidly back at her.

"I can see that. Where's your mama?" Jake asked.

"Gone, gone, gone," Claire chanted. "Cwaire pway with Qwil all day. Cwaire nebber goin home."

Claire ran back to me and I lifted her up on my shoulders.

"Sounds like somebody's hit the terrible twos."

"Threes actually," I replied. "You missed the party. Princess theme. She made me wear a crown, and then Emily suggested they all try out her new play makeup on me."

Jacob started snickering, "Wow, I'm really sorry I wasn't around to see that."

"Don't worry, Emily has pictures. Actually, I look pretty hot." I joked, still feeling slightly disgruntled that Sam wouldn't let me erase Emily's pictures when I tried.

"You're such a patsy," Jake laughed.

"Claire had a great time. That was the point," I responded, shrugging slightly. I felt Claire lean over.

"Pick wock, Qwil! For me, for me!" Claire demanded.

"Which one, kiddo? The red one?

"No wed!" Claire responded.

Claire grabbed onto my hair with a death grip, as I kneeled down to the ground, but it barely registered. I started to sort through the rocks, picking up one and asking, "The blue one?"

"No, no, no," Claire laughed. I continued to sort through the rocks. It was pure bliss for me to hear Claire's joy at being on the beach. I could feel Jake's eyes still on me.

"Quil, you ever think about dating?" Jake questioned suddenly.

"Huh?" I asked in surprise.

"No, no yewwo!" Claire said, pulling on my hair again.

"You know. A real girl. I mean, just for now, right? On your nights off babysitting duty."

I continued to stare at Jake. I was kind of in shock at the idea of dating someone. I never even considered the idea.

"Pick wock! Pick wock!" Claire demanded, hitting me on the head to get my attention. I snapped out of the stupor that Jake's question had put me into.

"Sorry, Claire-bear. How about this pretty purple one?" I offered, picking up another rock.

"No, no puwple," Claire laughed. I smiled back. While a part of me loved the sound of her childish laughter, I realized she was just toying with me.

"Give me a clue. I'm begging, kid." I pleaded with her.

Claire was quiet for a moment before she said, "Gween."

I looked down and grabbed four green rocks. "Did I get it?"

"Yay!" Claire responded enthusiastically.

"Which one?" I asked.

"Aaaall of them!" Claire laughed, putting her hands together in front of my forehead to form a cup.

I dropped the rocks in her hands and she immediately started hitting me in the forehead. I pulled her off my shoulders and tickled her sides, chuckling at her squeals of laughter. I looked down at her soaked outfit and decided to head back to Sue's house. I didn't want her to get cold. I grabbed Claire's hand and grabbed the bucket with my other hand and started walking back to the parking lot. Jake walked with us.

"Sorry if I was being pushy before, man, about the girl thing," Jake said.

"Naw, that's cool," I assured him. "It kind of took me by surprise is all. I hadn't thought about it."

"I bet she'd understand. You know, when she's grown up. She wouldn't get mad that you had a life while she was in diapers."

I looked down at Claire who was humming to herself while swinging our hands. She let go of my hand a moment later so that she could twirl as she walked.

"No, I know. I'm sure she'd understand that." I replied to Jake.

"But you won't do that, will you?" Jake asked.

I thought about it for a second. I thought about how all women were blurry to me. Even now, there were a couple of women sitting on the beach a distance away from me. Before I imprinted, I would have seen them clearly. Now, their faces were out of focus to me.

"I can't see it," I told him truthfully. "I can't imagine. I just don't…see anyone that way. I don't notice girls anymore, you know. I don't see their faces."

"Put that together with the tiara and makeup, and maybe Claire will have a different kind of competition to worry about," Jake snickered.

"You available this Friday, Jacob?" I laughed, making kissing noises at him.

"You wish," Jake responded before pausing and saying, "Yeah, guess I am though."

I watched as sadness washed over his face again.

"You ever think about dating?" I asked. Listening to Jake sigh despondently, I added, "You know, Jake, maybe you should think about getting a life."

I worried about Jake. We had been friends since we were in kindergarten together. I had never seen him so messed up about a girl before. But Bella was married now. He needed to move on.

"I don't see them, either, Quil. I don't see their faces." He told me.

I sighed. What Jake felt wasn't the same as imprinting, but I knew that his heart was broken. I wished I could find a way to make him feel better again. There was someone out there for Jacob, I could feel it. He just hadn't met her yet.

In the distance, I heard Sam howl. He was back from shopping already? They had just left a few hours ago. I thought he would have been gone a lot longer. I wondered if Stacy was at Emily's or Sue's.

"Dang, that's Sam." I said, touching Claire's head gently. "I don't know where her mom's at!"

"I'll see what it is. If we need you, I'll let you know," Jake offered. "Hey, why don't you take her up to the Clearwaters'? Sue and Billy can keep an eye on her if they need to. They might know what's going on, anyway."

I nodded. Sue's house it was then. "Ok. Get outta here, Jake!" I told him as I made my way back to the car.

Later that day, I would find out that Bella Swan, now Bella Cullen, had come back from her honeymoon pregnant. Jacob broke off from the pack when Sam had made the difficult decision to attack the Cullens thereby eliminating the half breed baby that could have been a potential threat to the humans in the area. Jake, with Seth and Leah Clearwater, made up their own pack to protect the Cullens. Jake had assumed the role of Alpha. It was a role he was always meant to have, but never wanted.

A few days later, Renesmee Carlie Cullen was born and Jake finally, truly understood what I was talking about when I said I couldn't see women's faces any longer. Because Jacob had found his own imprint.

_A/N – As most of you probably recognized, the last part of this chapter came from Breaking Dawn. Normally, whenever I use something from the books, I try to quote it accurately, but I changed some of Claire's lines so that they weren't in "baby" form. I'm terrible at changing things to 'baby talk" and I didn't want to attempt it for the parts that were new. Hope you don't mind. I wanted to include the beach scene between Jacob and Quil in my story, so you would have a better understanding as to why all women are blurry to imprinted wolves. I got the idea from the line when Quil says "I don't see their faces." That said, one more chapter of Claire this age and then I'm going to start aging her a little bit. _

_Please leave a review. You know me…I love feedback!_


	4. Birds & Bees

**Chapter 4 – Birds & Bees**

Quil's POV

The phone was ringing off the hook when I rolled over in bed to answer it.

"Hello?" I asked wearily.

"Quil, it's Ronnie, I hope you don't mind me calling, but Stacy has gone into labor a couple of weeks early, and Eva and Roger are out of town for the weekend. I need help with the girls and I can't get a hold of Emily. Would you be able to meet me at the Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles and maybe watch the girls while I'm with Stacy?" Ronnie asked in a panicked voice.

"Sure, I'm on my way," I responded.

"Thanks Quil," Ronnie sighed in relief. "We should be there in a couple of hours. God, I hope her water doesn't break in the meantime."

We hung up and yawning, I got out of bed and made my way to the shower. I glanced at the alarm next to my bed as I went by it. It was 3 am. The girls would probably be exhausted. I took a quick shower and made my way to the kitchen where I made myself a large sandwich. After wasting about some time, I decided to hop in my old beat-up Ford Tempo. It wasn't a pretty car, but it got me where I needed to go.

I knew that my disappearing in the middle of the night wouldn't upset my parents. Luckily, thanks to my grandfather, my parent's knew I did "tribal business" a lot and didn't give me a problem when I disappeared a lot. Unlike Embry, whose mother watched him like a hawk and was constantly grounding him. Sometimes there were really nice benefits to having an Elder for a grandfather.

I stopped by Emily and Sam's small home on my way and knocked on the door loudly. I was no longer in Sam's pack so I couldn't call him via "wolf phone." A week ago, Embry and I had approached Sam and told him of our desire to join Jacob's pack.

In the few weeks that followed Jacob's imprinting on Renesmee Cullen, an uneasy peace had settled between Jacob's pack and Sam's pack. When Jacob first formed his pack, the tension between the two groups was horrendous. Since Ness was born though, tensions had eased.

Sam and Jacob still had a hard time being around each other for too long though. The Alpha vibe was too strong between them to allow them to be completely comfortable with each other, but they still put up with each other if they had to. Mainly because Sam and his pack had let the Cullens' know that they wouldn't attack them. And also because, now that Jacob had imprinted on Ness, Sam's pack was bound to protect Renesmee at all costs.

However, although there was peace now throughout the area, Embry and I still had longed to be in Jake's pack. While the pack members considered each other brothers, there was a bond between Jacob, Embry, and me that was stronger than that. It really bothered us that we weren't connected to Jake anymore. Sam, sensing our pain, let us go without any resentment.

I knocked on Sam's door again, harder then before.

"What the hell!" I heard Sam roar from the inside. Sam opened the door so hard that it swung back in its frame and slammed into the wall. Sam was standing there with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. His hair was wet.

"Quil," Sam said with surprise, his forehead wrinkling into a frown.

"Where's Emily?" I asked looking towards the bedroom. I saw the bathroom door creak open and Emily peer out, hidden by the door. Looking from her to Sam in his towel, I felt my cheeks burn. Ugh, I didn't even want to think about what I just interrupted.

"I guess you probably didn't hear the…ah…phone," I stuttered. "I just wanted to let you know that Stacy went into labor. Ronnie's bringing her to the Olympic in Port Angeles."

"He called you?" Emily said, coming out of the bathroom now wrapped in a robe.

"Yeah, he couldn't get a hold of you so he called me and asked me to look after the girls," I told her, not making eye contact with either of them. Sam knew what I was doing and snickered. I ignored him and continued, "Anyway, I'm on my way to the hospital, but I wanted to see if I could find you first. Sorry…didn't mean to interfere."

"Oh no, thank you Quil," Emily said before looking over at Sam. "We're going, right?"

"Yeah, we'll meet you there, Quil," Sam responded. I nodded and turned to leave. Emily grabbed my arm.

"Thanks Quil for letting us know. I'm glad things are getting better between you and Ronnie. I'm sorry he was being such a jerk before."

"Sure," I replied and quickly turned and went out to my car.

Talk about bad timing. I could feel the tips of my ears burning and I chuckled at my own embarrassment as I made my way down the road. I didn't know why I was so mortified. It wasn't like I was a virgin. I had lost that with my ex-girlfriend months before I imprinted. I knew that Emily and Sam had sex cause I had to relive some of their moments together when I was in his pack. I didn't want to think about Emily and Sam having sex though. Emily was like a sister/mother figure to me. It creeped me out to think of her that way.

It normally took an hour to get to Port Angeles, but because there was no traffic on the road I got there under 40 minutes. I waited out front for the Youngs'. A guard came and asked me why I was loitering, and I had to briefly explain the situation. The guard, who had to have been in his 80s, looked at my arm muscles bulging out of my t-shirt and nodded and scurried away. Ronnie drove up a few minutes later. I didn't even want to think about how fast he was going to get here so soon. I could see Stacy breathing in and out heavily in the front seat. The girls were sleeping in the back.

"Quil," Ronnie said, running out of his car and opening the door for Stacy. He bent down and helped her out of the car. "Can you park the car and grab the girls and meet us on the 5th floor?"

He didn't even wait for an answer as he practically dragged Stacy into the hospital. Stacy waved at me as they flew by and disappeared into the building. I got in the car and pulled it into a parking spot. Leaning into the backseat, I unhooked Cora and Claire from their booster seats and picked them up carefully, wrapping them in the blankets they already had over them.

I walked into the hospital and moved towards the elevator. Both girls had their heads on my shoulders. Claire moved her head into her favorite spot on my neck and slung one arm around my shoulder. Her soft snores made me chuckle. I made my way into the elevator and with some maneuvering was able to push the button for the maternity floor.

I went to the nurse's station and asked her where the waiting room was. Seeing the bundles in my arms, she got up and grabbed a couple of pillows and extra blankets from a cabinet and walked with me to the waiting area. The room was relatively empty. There were two love seats close to each other. Carefully, I set Cora down on one and Claire on the other. Thanking the nurse for her assistance, I tucked a pillow under each girl and covered them both with the extra blankets. I picked up a chair nearby and moved it over to where the girls were. I sat opposite of Claire and just stared at her, my heart full. About 10 minutes later, Ronnie walked into the lobby and made his way over to me.

"Thanks again for doing this Quil," Ronnie told me with bloodshot eyes. "I didn't even think…don't you have school tomorrow."

"Nah, I dropped out and started doing home schooling." It had been too hard last year to attend school. I missed most of the last month anyway due to phasing for the first time and patrolling. With my grandfather's support, I had convinced my parents that being home schooled would be the best option for me. My parents reluctantly agreed.

"Stacy might be a few hours still. I was going to suggest you take the girls over to Emily's, but it looks like they're settled here." Ronnie said looking over at his sleeping daughters.

"Yeah, I'll take them wherever you need me too," I offered. Ronnie smiled at me.

"Thanks Quil, they should be fine here for now…might as well let them sleep," Ronnie responded before leaning over to kiss each girl on the head. "I'm going to get back to Stacy."

After patting me on the shoulder to express his thanks, Ronnie made his way back to the patient area. A short time later, Emily and Sam walked in. Emily had a bag full of toys and snacks, in case the girls got hungry or bored. Sam pulled up another loveseat for him and Emily to sit in. Our chairs now formed a square shape.

Claire woke up around 6 am. Pushing back her sheets, she made her way across our little area and climbed into my lap where she fell back asleep. I carried her back over to the loveseat and threw the hospital blanket to the ground. I laid down carefully on it, so that my back was on the seat cushions and my head was on the pillow that the nurse had provided. I moved my legs so that one was hanging over the arm of the seat, and the other was sprawled out on the floor. Claire settled across my chest.

I looked over at Sam and Emily. They were sitting close together, holding hands. They were talking softly and every once in awhile Sam would pick up Emily's scared hand that he was holding and kiss it. Knowing that they would keep an eye on Cora, I pulled Claire's blanket over her and we both fell asleep.

A couple of hours later, the sweet smell of syrup hit my nostrils. I woke up with a start. Sometime while I was out, Sam had made a run to the hospital cafeteria and brought back Belgium waffles for everyone. Claire had climbed off my lap and was digging into her waffle with gusto. I reached over and piled butter and syrup on the waffle Emily handed to me.

"Quil?" Cora asked now that I was awake.

"Yeah," I said, yawning, before reaching down and taking a bite out of my waffle.

"How are babies made?"

I chocked on my waffle and had to spit it out into the napkin next to me. "What?"

"How are babies made?" Cora repeated innocently.

"Umm…maybe that's something you should ask your parents."

"I asked my dad and he said that he'd tell me when I was older and then told me to go to my room. I thought maybe it was bad cause I got sent to my room so I didn't ask again." Cora rambled like kids her age do.

"Maybe Quil doesn't know," Emily joked.

"You know, right Quil?" Cora asked.

"He knows," Sam snorted. I glared at him. He had probably seen one of my random memories of me with my ex.

"Yeah, I know," I muttered, feeling my face burn. This just wasn't my night. I saw Cora nudge Claire and then look pointedly at me. I felt a moment of dread before Claire turned her inquisitive face towards me. Holy shit! Did Cora know that I couldn't refuse Claire anything?

"Pwease tell us Qwil, pwease," Claire begged, spitting out some waffle as she spoke.

I looked over at Emily and Sam for help but they were both laughing too hard. The traitors! I leave Sam's pack and this is how he chooses to retaliate? I looked up at the ceiling and prayed for guidance.

"Well…you see, um, when a mom and dad love each other very much…they ah, try to be as close as possible and…um…that's how they make a baby." I hoped that was good enough. I could tell that Emily rolled her eyes even though I couldn't see her face clearly. Sam buried his face into her neck. I could hear nothing but snorting from him.

"But how?" Cora continued, apparently not happy with my answer.

"Yeah, how Qwil?" Claire chimed in.

Fuck it! I didn't care how much it hurt to not answer Claire's question, I wasn't going to say anymore. If I did, these two would end up in therapy for the rest of their lives. I looked around and saw a vending machine in the distance. It suddenly became a lifeline.

"Who wants candy?" I asked, jumping up and walking away as quickly as possible.

My legs and arms seemed to spasm as I walked and I could feel a very strong pull at my back. The imprint magic felt like it was trying to yank me back to Claire. I could actually feel a sharp jerk on my back like I had a hook attacked to my spine. It probably wouldn't let up until I answered her question, but I wasn't going to give in this time.

I finally made it to the machine. I was shaking and felt slightly bruised. I could hear Emily whispering to the girls and Cora say "ooohhh" but I was too humiliated to listen to Emily's clever explanation. Whatever she told them must have satisfied them, because the pain I had been in eased up.

"Quil? Quil Ateara?"

I froze in shock. This couldn't be happening. I hadn't thought about my ex-girlfriend once since I imprinted, but today I thought of her several times and suddenly there she was. I turned and looked over and then almost jumped back.

While most women were somewhat blurry to me, Jessica's whole body was completely distorted. She also was almost red and looked somewhat demonic. Also, there was a strange smell coming off of her that repulsed me. It was like the imprint magic in me knew that I had once been intimately involved with this woman and was now telling me to back away. I took a step back.

I wondered if Jacob ever had experienced anything like this, but then again he hadn't ever slept with anyone because he had always been hung up on Bella for so long. Embry had only slept with one girl one time, but he had never imprinted. Sam saw Leah clearly, but that was only because she was a wolf.

I thought about Jared. Jared had had a reputation for sleeping around before he imprinted on Kim. He had to have run into an ex since imprinting. I made a mental note to ask him later if he had ever had this reaction.

"Jessica…uh, what brings you here?" I replied, turning my head away from her so that I wouldn't have to breathe her in.

"My sister is having a baby," she told me, tossing her long hair over her shoulder. The motion sent another wave of her smell over to me and made me want to gag.

"Oh…uh, that's great…tell her I said hi," I said, trying to inch my way away from her.

"What are you doing here?" Jessica asked, peering over my shoulder.

"Some family friends are having a baby, I'm keeping an eye on their kids," I explained, pointing over in Claire and Cora's direction. I looked over and saw Claire frowning at me.

"Aww…that's so sweet," Jessica gushed. "I miss seeing you in school Quil. You're looking good…very good."

I could tell that she was looking me over. The t-shirt that I was wearing was doing little to hide the fact that I now had a ton of muscles.

"Maybe, we could get caught up while we're waiting…maybe, I don't know, find a storage closet for some privacy." She suggested, leaning into me.

I took another step away as I began to feel sick over the encounter. The first time we had ever had sex was at her work. We had gone into the storage closet and let our hormones take over. It made me feel sick and dirty now to think about it. At least we used protection. Just then I saw something little fly by me.

"Qwil mine!" Claire shouted before kicking Jessica as hard as she could. It must have been pretty hard because Jessica jumped back and yelped.

"Ow, you little sh--." Jessica screeched.

"Claire, go sit down," I told her firmly.

"Qwil, you come too," Claire begged, pulling on my hand.

"Apologize first. You don't kick people," I told her. While I wanted to go with her more than anything and I needed to get some air that wasn't polluted by Jessica's stench, I didn't think her father would be to happy that I let her get away with kicking a stranger. Especially as we had just gotten to a better understanding in our relationship.

"Swarry," Claire muttered into my leg, obviously not sorry at all, but I was willing to take it.

"I'll see you around, Jessica," I told her, picking up Claire.

"Fine. Whatever." Jessica replied before limping off to the other side of the lobby.

I carried Claire back to the loveseat in our little nook of the waiting room and sat back down. Claire and I played an hour long game of peek-a-boo. It was one of our favorite past times. I saw Jessica walk by once. She didn't even look in my direction.

A couple hours later, an exuberant Ronnie came out to tell us that Stacy had delivered a healthy baby boy. They were going to name him, Nicolas Michael. A short time later, Eva and Roger appeared. Sam, Emily, and I decided that it would be a good time to take a break and we drove back to the reservation, taking the girls with us.

I was more than ready to leave the hospital. It sure had been one hell of a day.

_A/N – Ok, enough of this age. I'm going to slowly start aging Claire beginning with my next chapter. Review, Review, Review!!_


	5. Training Wheels

**Chapter 5 – Training Wheels**

Quil's POV

"Hey Claire-bear, how was your first week of kindergarten?" I asked as I saw Claire walk towards me. I bent down to pick her up, but she backed away and looked around quickly.

"I'm too big for that now, Quil," Claire said with serious brown eyes. Her new found maturity was ruined by her pink overalls and pigtails.

I was a little hurt by her rejection. She had only been in kindergarten a week and she already didn't need me. I shrugged to show her it was okay and we headed down the hall to where Cora's class was. As though Claire couldn't help but seek contact with me, she put her hand in mine as we walked.

"So how was school?" I asked again.

"I don't like school. I want to quit," Claire said in a determined tone.

I snickered. She already hated school and still had a lot more to go.

"Don't you want to grow up to be smart?" I asked.

"No," Claire replied stubbornly.

"What about the kids in your class? Do you like any of them?"

"Yeah, there are some really nice girls. One girl, Lindsey, is my bestest friend already."

"Well, if you quit school you wouldn't be able to see any of your friends," I informed her.

Claire scrunched up her forehead at that thought and didn't reply. I smiled to myself knowing that I had won that particular battle for now. Cora soon joined us and we headed to the car.

Ronnie and Stacy had given their permission to the school to let the girls leave with me. The siblings were going to spend the weekend in La Push. Nessie Cullen was going to be turning two in a couple of weeks, and Jake and I arranged for her to have a slumber party at Sam's house with Cora and Claire. It wasn't a birthday party, as her parents and her Aunt Alice had something else planned, but it was a way for Ness to do something fun and childish.

Nessie may have only been two, but she physically looked like she was about seven or eight. She also had the mind of a Rhodes Scholar, but her parents were worried that due to her rapid growth she wouldn't have much of a childhood. This weekend was supposed to be a chance for Nessie to have a rare childhood experience. Plus, all the girls had gotten along really well at Sam and Emily's wedding a year and a half ago.

I knew Bella and Edward were nervous about this weekend for several reasons. For one thing, they had barely let Ness out of their sight after the vampire enforcers, the Volturi, had tried to attack the Cullens a week before Sam's wedding. The Volturi had used the pretense that Nessie was a potential danger and had threatened to destroy the whole family. Luckily, they had decided against attacking and fled the area of Forks in shame.

I knew another big reason that Bella and Edward were worried was because Nessie hadn't been around humans a lot and they weren't sure how she'd do in "society." She saw her grandfather and Sue Clearwater a lot, now that Charlie Swan and Sue were dating seriously, but she had never spent the night at Charlie's.

It was because of her parents concern that we decided to let the girls have the slumber party at Sam's. Ness would be surrounded by wolves who would willingly die to protect her, but she'd also be close enough to home where she could go back to her house quickly if she needed too.

We reached the mini-van in the school parking lot. I had borrowed Emily's car for the trip. I saw Cora and Claire's eyes light up when they saw their bicycles in the trunk area of the van. I had promised Claire's parents that I would work with Claire on riding her bike.

She had been wanting to learn how to ride it without training wheels. I personally thought she was way too young to not have that added protection, but Claire was determined. Especially as Cora had been riding her bike without the extra security for a year now.

We drove the almost two hour drive to La Push listening to CDs meant for kids. I didn't mind the music choice because I heard Claire singing cheerfully along to each song. As long as she was happy, I would put up with anything, including the overly jolly garbage I was being forced to listen to. The girls chatted excitedly to each other when they weren't singing. Like Renesmee, this was their first slumber party.

We soon pulled up to Sam and Emily's house. Emily greeted us with her son, Nathaniel, on her hip. She had to hold him over the bump growing in her belly region. Emily was pregnant again. We'd all had a good time giving Sam a hard time about that considering Nathaniel was just shy of being one. Staring at the kid now, I was amazed with how much he looked like Sam. With the exception of the shape of his eyes and the color of his hair, he was Sam through and through.

"You made good time," Emily said as she shifted down to hug each of her nieces. "Jacob and Nessie aren't here yet."

"Yeah, traffic was kind of light today," I replied.

"Don't forget next month we're having the birthday party for the boys," Emily reminded me. Nicolas, Claire's brother, and Nathaniel's birthdays were only a couple of weeks apart.

I nodded at the reminder and we followed Claire and Cora into the house. The girls ran into the living room and parked themselves in front of the television. Nathaniel pointed to the ground and said "down." After Emily complied with his wishes, he tottered off after his cousins and landed on Cora with a grunt. Cora promptly sat up and pulled him gently in her lap and began making fish faces at him.

"Where's Sam?" I asked as I walked into the kitchen with Emily.

"He's working, but should be home in a few hours," Emily replied.

Sam did construction work with Jared and Paul whenever he got a chance. He had been doing it since soon after Jared and Paul joined his pack. They worked "as needed" for a company that was owned by Jared's dad. It paid well and gave them flexibility with their schedule. That flexibility was a big help when they had to put their wolf duties first.

As for me, when I wasn't patrolling, I was helping Jacob fix cars. He did work out of his garage and had gained quite a reputation on the reservation. He had wanted to open a garage of his own someday, but the Cullens were thinking about moving in another few years. He would go wherever Nessie went.

I talked with Emily as she put together a chocolate cake mix, pouring it into a pan, before putting it into the oven. There wasn't a lot of human food that Nessie could stomach, but sweets were one thing that she always ate.

A half hour later, Jacob and Ness arrived. She clung to his hand and seemed unsure of herself. She had grown up to be quite a beautiful child with long bronze colored curls that reached down her back and her warm chocolate brown eyes. Her skin was pale, but she had inherited her mother's rosy complexion. Because she had vampire blood in her, she was another female that I could see clearly.

Jacob sat down on the couch in the living room. Ness sat next to him, leaning against his side. Nathaniel walked over to her carefully, before losing his balance and falling against her knees. Ness bent down and lifted him on her lap without any signs of strain. It was sometimes easy to forget that because of her heritage she had a lot physical strength.

A couple of hours later, Sam came home. He and Jacob chatted amicably enough, but you could feel the tension mounting between them. It was kind of sad really. I knew that they both cared about each other a lot, but the Alpha blood was fierce and strong. It was hard for them to be around each other for too long before one wanted to attack the other. They couldn't help it any more than they could help imprinting on Emily and Renesmee. It was a part of who they were.

When dinner time finally came, Jacob stayed long enough to watch Ness eat her rare hamburger and then decided it was time to leave. Ness gave him a fierce hug, before letting him go. He bent down and kissed her head then motioned to me to follow him out of the house.

"If anything happens, anything at all, give me a call," Jacob instructed. "If she seems like she doesn't want to be here or looks upset, I'll be here in minutes."

"Yes, sir," I replied. Jacob rolled his eyes at that and punched me in the arm. I snickered before continuing, "Seriously, she's going to be fine. Emily has a slew of fun things planned for them."

"All right, but don't forget to call me if Nessie needs me," Jacob said with another worried glance in the direction of the house.

"I'm going to be here all night, and Sam will be here, too. Sam's pack is right down the road. Nothing is going to happen. Now go," I told him, shoving him towards his car. With one final look at the house, Jacob drove off with a pained expression on his face.

It had been decided that I would spend the night. Jacob couldn't stay at Sam's house because of the Alpha power, but at least I could be there. It comforted Jacob slightly to have a member of his pack near Renesmee. Not that he didn't trust Sam, but he liked having that instant mental connection available by having me there. As for me, I was going to get to hang out with my imprint all night. I couldn't ask for anything better than that.

I walked back into the house and went into the living room. Ness and Cora had already put on their pajamas and were lying on their sleeping bags watching television. Emily had rented _The Muppets Take Manhattan._ It was a film from the 80s, but it had been a favorite of Emily's when she was a kid.

Emily went to put Nathaniel down to sleep and then brought in the chocolate cake for everyone. We each grabbed a piece before settling back to finish the movie. Sam fell asleep in his armchair. Claire got bored with the movie and pulled a piece of paper and some crayons out of her purple backpack she had brought with her.

She came over to me and sat down in front of me on the floor, sitting between my legs. She climbed up on her knees and put her paper on the table that rested in front of the couch. She seemed pretty intent on her drawing. With curiosity getting the better of me, I leaned over to see what she was drawing and froze.

Claire had drawn a picture of her house. In the window of the home was a girl with long brown hair. And next to the house was a large brown dog with pointed ears.

"What are you drawing, Claire?" I asked, sitting very still.

"This is my house and me and Barnaby," Claire told me.

"Who's Barnaby?"

"Barnaby comes to see me at night," Claire told me matter-of-factually.

I never realized that Claire knew I was out there. I thought I saw her on a few occasions looking in the direction where I was hidden, but I didn't think she actually saw me. Ronnie had told me last year that the hunting party had given up trying to hunt me. I had been too elusive and as I never caused harm anyway, they had decided to put up with the strange wolf occurrences in the area.

"Are you afraid of Barnaby?" Sam asked.

I hadn't realized that he was awake. He gave me a dirty look. I held my breath as I waited for Claire's answer.

"Oh no, he's my guard dog," Claire assured Sam. I felt myself relax.

"Quil, do you think Barnaby will find me here?" Claire asked with a worried expression.

"I can guarantee that Barnaby will be looking after you tonight," I promised.

I saw Claire smile in relief and heard a soft laugh from Renesmee, but when I looked over, she had her eyes glued to the TV. After Claire was done with her drawing, she climbed onto the couch and leaned against me. I felt her weight get heavier and when I looked down, she was fast asleep. I carried her over to her sleeping bag and placed her gently inside it. The other two girls got into their sleeping bags and feel asleep soon after. Emily decided to hit the sack early as Nathaniel would probably be up in five or six hours. Sam and I went into the kitchen. We sat down at the table and played poker until almost midnight before deciding to call it a night.

I went into the bathroom and changed into my sweat shorts and made my way back to the couch. Thank God Sam was such a tall guy. All the furniture in the living room seemed to be made for tall people. I sprawled out across the couch and promptly fell asleep.

A few hours later I woke with a jerk. Something had woken me. I sat up quickly and looked around. Cora and Renesmee were sleeping peacefully in their sleeping bags. Claire was not in hers. I was about to jump up when I realized that Claire was standing next to the couch. She was crying.

"What's wrong Claire-bear?" I asked pulling her into a hug.

"I had a nightmare," Claire sobbed into my shoulder.

"What was it about?"

"I was in the water and waves kept hitting me and the water kept pulling me under," Claire sobbed. I held her tighter.

"You're safe, honey, I won't let anything hurt you," I assured her and felt her tremble.

"Quil, can I sleep on the couch with you?" Claire asked, pulling back to stare at me with terrified eyes.

"Sure," I told her, reaching over to grab my shirt off the floor and slipping it on. I laid back down and Claire crawled up onto the couch and laid down next to me, draping her arm over my chest. She fell asleep again quickly. The sound of her soft snores was the last thing I heard before I fell asleep as well.

In the morning, we decided to practice riding bikes before the afternoon rain came in. Bella and Edward had bought Renesmee a bike for the occasion. It was a top of the line children's bike and something that she would probably outgrow in a few months. Cora got onto her bike first and peddled off. Nessie, upon watching Cora for a few moments, got on her bike and followed suit. She had never been on a bike before, but picked it up in minutes without even having to use training wheels.

I put a helmet on Claire, along with knee pads and elbow pads. If I could have wrapped her in bubble wrap, I would have and even suggested it, but Emily said that was a bit much. After much pleading from Claire, I agreed to take off the training wheels. I held onto the back of her bike until Claire was able to figure out how to balance herself. After an hour, Claire was finally able to ride her bike on her own.

I hovered over her, running as she pedaled with my hands out in case she fell. She did a few laps on her own and laughed with glee. I felt like bursting with pride. Claire went to pedal off again but before I even took a step to run with her, she stopped.

"Stay," Claire ordered with an exasperated look before taking off again.

I stood there, my stomach knotted in nerves, as I watched her pedal off to where Renesmee was standing next to Sam's house. Ness watched Claire's progress with a happy smile on her face. She seemed to really be enjoying the sleepover. I was glad that we had given her a joyful childhood memory.

Cora came up to ask me something and I took my eyes off of Claire for a second. That was when she lost her balance and fell off her bike. I heard her scream and started running in her direction, but she was at least 60 yards away. Renesmee bent down to help her up but froze, her eyes drawn to an area on Claire's leg.

I realized that no matter how much padding I had put on Claire, she still managed to cut her leg halfway between her foot and knee pad. The fall had been hard enough to cut open Claire's jeans. I could see blood oozing even from a distance. She also had blood on her palm.

Renesmee stared at the blood, transfixed. I knew that she had been fed human blood when she was a baby, but she hadn't had it in over a year and a half. I couldn't move fast enough to get to my Claire. Ness covered her mouth and turned away from Claire, but I could see her trembling as she kept glancing at the blood exposed. She took a step back towards Claire. Everything had happened in a matter of seconds, but I knew that with the speed that Renesmee had inherited from her vampire father, if she decided to attack Claire, I wouldn't be able to get to Claire in time.

"Sam!" I yelled. The girls were right next to Sam's front door.

He ran out of the house at full speed. Taking in the situation, Sam grabbed Ness and pulled her away from the area. I reached Claire a second later. Claire, unaware of how close she had been to getting attacked by Ness, was sobbing in fright and pain from her injury. Nessie turned her face into Sam's stomach area and began as well. I saw her breathing in Sam's scent and knew that Claire's blood no longer had a hold on her.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Ness sobbed. I carefully picked Claire up and started walking towards the house.

"Don't upset your self, Ness," Sam assured her. "Why don't we take a walk down to the beach?"

"Okay," I heard Ness mumble.

I carried Claire into the house. Cora followed us in and made her way into the living room. Emily was on the phone with someone and covered the receiver with her hand.

"Is Claire all right?" she asked.

"Yeah, she needs to get cleaned up though," I told her.

"Where's Sam?"

"He took Ness to the beach for some fresh air," I explained.

"Take Claire to the upstairs bathroom. I'll be up in a second," Emily said before I heard her return to her call. "Jacob, everything is fine…Sam's with her…at the beach…you don't need to come over, she's fine…they're all fine…if you come get her, she won't be able to go to the movies…yeah, that's fine if you want to go…the 1:30 pm show…okay, we'll meet you there."

As I carefully cradled Claire to my chest and made my way into the bathroom, I heard Emily hang up the phone and follow us. I grabbed some tissues and pressed them to Claire's palm to stem the bleeding, but they immediately soaked through with blood. Emily grabbed a washcloth and moved Claire's hand over the sink where she rinsed out the wound with soap and water. Next, she sprayed on an anti-bacterial medication. Claire whimpered and I started to tremble.

"Maybe you should leave while I'm doing this," Emily suggested, not taking her eyes off Claire's hand as she applied a large band-aid to it.

Taking a deep breath, I replied, "No, I'm okay."

Emily gave me a half smile before reaching down to take the knee pads off of Claire's jeans. She took off the jeans carefully, but Claire's brown eyes began to swell with tears anyway. I grabbed Claire's uninjured hand as Emily worked on the gash on her leg. She squeezed my hand tightly as Emily sprayed more anti-bacterial spray on the injury. Claire was soon bandaged up and we made our way back downstairs.

"Quil, can you clean up the blood outside with some of the bleach that's under the kitchen sink?" Emily asked.

I went out and did as she instructed. After I was done, I went back inside and walked into the living room. Glancing out the window, I saw Emily in the backyard, burning the bloody tissues in the fire pit outside.

"All set?" she questioned as she came back inside the house, rubbing her baby bump.

I nodded and she asked if I could clean up in the bathroom upstairs as well. I did so quickly, making sure that the scent of bleach covered the entire bathroom. Once I was finished, I went back down and joined Claire. Minutes later, Sam and Renesmee walked into the house. Nessie had blotchy eyes from crying.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to me. I pulled her in for a quick hug.

"It wasn't your fault," I assured her. "You didn't do anything wrong. You were very strong to resist the blood."

"That's what I told her," Sam said, rubbing Nessie's head.

"Jacob's going to meet us at the movie theater," Emily told Sam as she handed the girls icee pops. Renesmee's eyes lit up at the news that Jacob would be joining us.

We soon made our way to Forks to go to the movies. We stopped by Sue Clearwater's house first. She had volunteered to watch Nathaniel while we were out. We got to the movie theater and made our way to the snack counter after buying our tickets.

Cora wanted cotton candy and nudged Claire. Claire turned to me with hopeful eyes.

Sighing wearily, I ordered three buckets of cotton candy for the girls. Ness, having never experienced the fluffy, sugary goodness before, eyed it warily at first, but downed the entire bucket within minutes. The sugar kicked in the minute after Jacob arrived and she gave him the details of the slumber party in a speech that was so fast you would have thought she was on Speed. Jacob eyed me suspiciously, but I just smirked as we made our way into the theater.

The film was one of those animated "G" rated movies, but it still had a quality story line and I found myself being drawn into the plot. At the end of the movie, Jacob had to carry Renesmee out of the theater as she had sugar crashed halfway through the film and had fallen asleep.

Jacob took Ness back to the Cullens. Cora and Claire stayed one more night at Emily and Sam's and then I drove them home Sunday morning. As I drove, I thought over the events of the slumber party. I pondered over the amazing fact that Claire knew I was out in the woods near her home at night in wolf form and she was comforted by that.

I dropped the girls off and said goodbye to Ronnie, Stacy, and Nicolas. Cora gave me a quick hug before going into the house. Claire held onto me until I gently pulled her away. She had tears in her eyes as I drove off. It was always so hard leaving Makah and Claire behind. But with the knowledge that Claire was happy with "Barnaby" watching over her at night, I felt hope for the future swell inside me as I drove back to La Push.

_A/N – Thanks again to everyone who left me a review. I really appreciate you taking the time to do this. As always, please leave feedback. _


	6. Drunken State

_A/N – This chapter deals with people getting drunk. If that subject matter bothers you, please skip this part of the story._

**Chapter 6 – Drunken State**

Quil's POV

A couple of months before Claire turned eight, her family decided to take a trip down to Florida to see some of Stacy's cousins. They were going to be gone two weeks…_two _weeks. And I wasn't going to be able to follow them.

For one thing it would take me too long to get back and forth. And for another thing, I was a business man now. Embry and I had opened up a garage together with Jacob as our head mechanic. The setup gave Jacob the flexibility to leave town with the Cullens when the time came. Besides all that, Claire deserved a childhood that didn't have me hovering nearby every second. I didn't want to smother her, no matter how much pain it caused me.

Putting on a brave face, I went up to Makah to say goodbye to Claire. When I got there Nicolas and Cora were already strapped in the car. Nicolas waved nonchalantly at me as he jabbered nonstop to Stacy. Cora had her I-Pod headphones in her ears, and she was bopping her head to whatever she was listening to. Claire was standing outside of the car and was holding me in a death grip.

"I don't wanna go without you, Quil," Claire sobbed, her thin arms wrapped tightly around me.

"Listen, you are going to have so much fun, you won't even miss me," I assured her, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. I felt like my heart was shattering into a million pieces.

"No, I won't, I won't have any fun without you." Claire cried hysterically. I saw Ronnie glace nervously at his watch. Sighing, I knelt down on the ground so that I was face to face with Claire.

"Claire I want you to go to Florida, and I want to have a good time with your cousins. And I want you to give Mickey Mouse a great big hug for me, okay?

Claire stopped crying, but kept sniffling quietly. "Okay Quil."

"Okay," I smiled back.

She latched her arms around my neck one more time and whispered, "I love you Quil. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too, kiddo."

"Claire, honey, we need to get going." Ronnie said gently. Claire nodded solemnly and started to move into the car but stopped.

"You think Barnaby will miss me too?" Claire asked. I was startled by that. Claire hadn't mentioned her night time friend in a long time.

"I'm sure Barnaby will miss you something fierce." I replied. I saw Ronnie give me a funny look as a slight smile appeared on his lips.

"Love you, Quil," Claire said again as she climbed into the car.

"Love you too, Claire-bear," I told her. Ronnie shook my hand and climbed in the car. I heard the vehicle start and they soon were headed down the driveway.

As soon as they were out of sight, I ran into the woods and quickly phased and followed them until they reached the city border of Seattle. I found a spot where I could hide and I waited. I waited a couple of hours watching the different planes fly overhead. One was soon in the air and I knew that it had Claire on it. I felt the pull between us tug painfully at me as I watched the plane disappear on the horizon. I howled in pain. Someone jogging a mile away froze and then took off running at full speed in the opposite direction of where I was.

I got up and left the area quickly. As soon as I was far enough away I slowed down. I didn't know how I was going to handle Claire being out of sight for so long. Last time, I tried to avoid seeing Claire for even a day, I suffered crippling pain. I could only hope now that I was a little bit older and had more experience as a wolf; the pain wouldn't be as debilitating.

I went back to Makah for my car. I could still smell Claire's scent in the air. I went over to the play set in the backyard and sat in her favorite swing. I leaned my head against the swing's chain and inhaled deeply, closing my eyes. I breathed in the scent that lingered strongly there. I could also smell her on my shirt from when she hugged me and the smell comforted me slightly.

What if something bad happened to her though? What if her plane crashed? What if she fell from one of the rides? What if some crazed psychopath opened fire while she was waiting in line to have her picture taken with Cinderella? The thoughts kept whirling around and around in my head until I thought I'd go crazy. I bent over as the pain hit me like a sledgehammer.

After it started to get closer to twilight and the rain had finally penetrated through my clothes to the point where they were getting uncomfortable on me, I got up slowly and made my way to my car. I felt like I was 100-yrs-old. I felt tired and every inch of me hurt. I drove home with unnatural slowness. It took me forever to get back to La Push as depression slowly weighed over me. All I wanted to do was to go home and crawl under the sheets and go to sleep for the next two weeks.

I pulled into the driveway of my one bedroom home. It actually had once been rented by Sam and Emily when they first started living together. When Emily found out she was pregnant with Nathaniel, they had moved to a bigger house down the road.

It was a small house. When you first walked through the front door, you walked immediately into the kitchen. You walked down the hall and there were three doors on your right. One led to a storage closet, one led to the bathroom, and the other led to the bedroom. At the end of the hall was the living room.

I had a lot of memories of pack meetings at this house. It was also the place where I met Claire for the first time and where Sam punched me in the face after I imprinted. Thinking of Claire shot excruciating pain through my system again. I went into my bedroom and climbed under the sheets. Of course, I was boiling seconds later and had to take my sheets off me.

I wondered what Claire was doing right now. Contrary to how she acted, I knew that a part of her was secretly excited about this trip. It was her first time in a plane and her first trip out of state. Besides what kid didn't want to see Mickey Mouse? I could just imagine the happiness on her face and knowing that I wouldn't be there to witness it, made my stomach feel as though it was suddenly filled with poisonous snakes.

Realizing that I would never be able to sleep as I wanted to, I got up and made my way in the pouring rain to Emily and Sam's house, which was a short 10 minute walk from where I lived. I knocked on the door and let myself in. I passed the front room which was used as a study and made my way down the hall to the kitchen. Nathaniel was sitting at the table eating a snack. Emily was standing at the counter making sandwiches. Sam was sitting at the table with an exasperated look on his face as he tried to get his two-year-old daughter, Gracie, to eat.

While Nathaniel had been angelic as a baby, Gracie had the temperament to try the patience of a saint. Good thing her mother was as close to a saint as possible. I took in the family before me. While Nathaniel had the same crow-black hair that his mother had, which sometimes had a bluish sheen to it under certain lights, Gracie had inherited her father's jet black hair.

Her hair was the only thing that Gracie had inherited from her father in regards to looks. Otherwise, she was the spitting image of Emily. It seemed the only thing that Gracie inherited from Sam, besides his hair color, was his personality. She was stubborn, willful, and had a temper. Just like Sam.

"Gracie, honey, you have to eat," Sam pleaded with his daughter.

"No, don't wanna Daddy," Gracie said.

She put her hand on the bowl of soup that Sam was trying to feed her and pushed it hard. Soup spilled all over Sam's hand. He put the bowl on the table and got up, swearing under his breath.

"Gracie, that wasn't nice," Emily lectured, giving her daughter a stern look. "Say you're sorry to your dad."

"Swarry daddy," Gracie repeated to Sam who was busy washing his hand off in the sink. Her apology probably would have been more believable if Gracie had said sorry without that mischievous smile on her face. Man, was she going to be a handful when she was older.

"Did I come at a bad time?" I asked. The Uleys' looked up at me at the same time.

"Hey Quil," Nathaniel said, waving at me with a piece of apple in his hand.

"Qwwwwil," Gracie yelled. Emily took that moment to spoon some soup in Gracie's mouth. For a moment, Gracie looked like she was going to spit it out, then seconds later said, "More pwease."

Sam rolled his eyes as he made his way over to me. "Claire gone?"

I could only nod my head as the crushing feeling of dread and pain rolled over me again.

"Why don't you and I have a beer and watch the end of Mariner's game." Sam offered.

I nodded my head, keeping my mouth shut. If I tried to answer, I thought I would lose it and start crying like a baby. We walked across the open kitchen to the living room area. Sam settled down in his favorite chair while I sprawled out on the couch. After a few minutes, Gracie came into the room and climbed up on her dad's lap. Seconds later, she was fast asleep.

"Quil, you want anything to eat?" Emily asked. I shook my head.

"Em, could you make him a sandwich?" Sam implored. Emily nodded and went back into the kitchen. "You have to eat Quil. You won't do yourself any favors by making yourself sick."

Emily brought in a sandwich and both looked at me expectantly. Sighing, I reached out and grabbed it.

"Fine." I muttered, before saying, "Thanks Emily."

"You're welcome," Emily smiled at me, patting me on the shoulder before she went over to Sam and grabbed a sleeping Gracie off his lap. Walking back in the kitchen, I heard Emily tell Nathaniel that it was time for bed.

"Aww, man," Nathaniel said, but got up and obediently followed his mother towards the stairs which led to the bedrooms.

"Need any help?" Sam asked.

"No, I got it," Emily replied before glancing at me, then looking back at Sam meaningfully. We watched the game for a few more minutes in silence.

"So, you still plan on going to Seth's party next weekend?" Sam questioned.

"Yeah," I responded, taking a sip of beer.

Seth was having a birthday blowout in Seattle next weekend to celebrate that he was turning 21 and therefore legally allowed to drink and get into any bar and club he wanted. We were planning to go bar hopping. It was going to be basically Jacob's pack which included Jake, Seth, Embry and me.

Leah planned on meeting us at the club we were going to go to first. Leah was bringing her boyfriend Dylan with her. Dylan wasn't from the reservation. Leah had actually met him a few years ago when she decided to go to college at the University of Washington in Seattle. They had been together ever since. Leah had also stopped phasing around that time. She was the first one to leave the pack and couldn't have been happier with her decision.

We had invited Sam and some of his pack members to go with us, but the only two over 21 besides Sam, were Jared and Paul and they didn't want to leave their families for the night. Jared and Kim had gotten married shortly after Sam did. He and Kim now had three-year-old twin girls. Paul and Rachel had married a few years ago and were expecting their first baby, a boy, in a month. The only other two close to our age were Colin and Brady, but they were both only 20. The rest of the pack were 19 and under.

Plus, as Jacob's pack was going to be spending the weekend in a drunken state, Sam wanted his pack to stay behind to patrol the reservation. We hadn't had any threats in years, but Sam liked to be on the safe side.

After the game was over, Sam put in a movie and made some popcorn. Emily came in and sat on the arm of Sam's chair for a few minutes and Sam wrapped his arm around her waist. It pained me to see them close together. While I didn't have any romantic feelings for Claire, I loved her with all my heart and soul. Although she had only been gone roughly eight hours now, I felt like my body had suddenly turned into concrete and my heart was lost somewhere inside, bleeding.

As though sensing my pain, Emily came over and sat on the couch next to me and leaned over to squeeze my hand gently before releasing it to pick up a magazine. An hour went by when I heard the phone ring. Emily got up to answer it.

"Ronnie, you made it I take it," Emily said. My ears perked up and I sat up straight as I realized who the caller was. They talked for a few minutes before Emily called me. I went straight over to her and she handed me the phone.

"Quil," I heard Claire's sweet voice. I wanted to drop to my knees as the pain I had been in since she left suddenly released its hold on me.

I answered in a calm voice though, "Hey Claire, what are you doing up?" It had to be close to 1 am where she was.

"We just got here and dad said you were at Aunt Emily's and asked if I wanted to talk to you before I went to bed, so I said I did." Claire rambled.

"Well thank you kiddo, but you need to get some sleep okay?"

"Okay, night Quil." Claire said tiredly.

"Night Claire-bear."

As we hung up the phone, I felt a peace settle over me that I hadn't felt since she climbed into the car. Still, it was only the first day without her being near. And it had hurt…horribly. I didn't know how I was going to get through the next two weeks.

Being without Claire was what I imagined someone going through detox went through. The first few days without her I felt sick, shaky, and like I had no reason to go on. The depression was so bad that I literally couldn't get out of my bed.

On the third day, Jacob and Embry came to my house and threw me in the shower and then forced me to go to work. After that, a blessed numbness seemed to settle over me. I didn't feel a thing. No pain, no emotion, nothing. I made it through the week that way.

It was Friday evening before I even became aware of my surroundings. I blinked my eyes and looked around to find myself in a car with Embry sitting next to me and Seth sitting in the front seat next to Jacob who was driving.

"What's going on? Where are we going?" I asked blankly.

Embry rolled his eyes and punched me in the arm. Hard. "Seattle, man. It's Seth's birthday today, remember?"

"Oh, right." I replied rubbing my arm as I vaguely remembered Seth's birthday weekend.

We arrived at the hotel and grabbed our luggage from the car. Jake also grabbed a garbage bag out of the back of the car which made a strange swishing noise as we headed towards the hotel. Embry checked us in and we made our way to the room.

"Let's get this party started," Seth said, grinning from ear to ear.

He opened the garbage bag that Jake had carried in and pulled out four 24-packs of beer before handing us each one. I saw Jake grab his cell and walk over to the window. He called Ness and let her know that we had made it to the hotel safely. Ness was now six, but physically closer to 16. Jacob and Nessie's relationship had hit the point where they were moving from the best friend's stage to something infinitely deeper. He was starting to get the same sappy, love struck look on his face that Sam had whenever he looked at Emily.

Envy and pain shot through me again, breaking through the icy numbness that I had been feeling. I hadn't spoken to Claire since the first night that Ronnie had called. I knew she had to be okay though. If anything bad had happened I would have felt it.

I opened up my 24-pack of beer and chugged one down in one gulp. I threw the empty can on the table before reaching for another one. If I could get drunk tonight, I was going to. I didn't believe in using alcohol to escape problems, but every once in a while it was nice to get blitzed.

Of course it took a lot to get us drunk. Because of our high body temperatures, the heat from our blood burned off alcohol before it could take effect. However, we learned when Jacob got injured right after the Newborn War that drugs had an effect on us if we consumed large amounts. Dr. Cullen had to give Jacob extra doses of morphine to knock him out when he was treating him, but the extra doses worked. Which was why after I had finished my case of beer within an hour, I felt buzzed.

We made our way to Club Medusa which was a bar that had dancing too. We walked over to one of the few tables left open and sat down. Jake ordered a round of shots called Liquid Cocaine, which was a mix between Bacardi, Jaeger, and a couple other things. After a few rounds of that, we did Jaeger bombs. By the time Leah and Dylan arrived we were doing straight shots of Vodka.

I realized the alcohol kicked in when Seth jumped up from the table and ran out to the dance floor screaming like a banshee. Embry got up from the table, calmly walked out on the floor and then started thrashing around like he was having a seizure. Jacob and I slouched down in our chairs. Leah rolled her eyes at us and muttered something that sounded like "drunken idiots" before she proceeded to try to suck the lips off her boyfriend's face.

I glared at them through cloudy eyes. The music that was pounding through the club seemed somehow muted to my ears. Looking around at the girls in the club, I noticed most seemed to be hardly dressed in tight, barely there, tank tops. I began to think about how long it had been since I had sex and I frowned. I noticed one girl with big boobs who had a tiny tank top on that was almost the same color as her skin.

"Damn is dat gurl wearing any clothes?" I asked Jacob, nudging him in the side. He tried to focus in the girl's direction, but I saw his forehead scrunch up.

"I tink so?" Jacob muttered before picking up a new shot of vodka that the waitress had just brought over. He held it to the light that was on the table and began muttering something about it being "so buetiful."

"Oh Jesus, we're out of here," Leah said, grabbing her boyfriend's hand before walking over to her brother on the dance floor. Seth was now clutching some girl and dancing slowly to the fast paced music. He waved unsteadily at Leah and she walked off, dragging her boyfriend behind her. I saw her boyfriend put his hand on her butt as they walked out the door.

"Hey! Hey Quil…I gotta good idear." Jacob said even as he started to slouch over. He braced his hands on the table to steady himself. "Why dow't you ask dat nudie girl to danz?"

"Yeah, man, dat is a grrreat idear." I responded, punching Jacob in the arm. The force almost sent him to the floor. 'Oh, swarry Jake."

"S'okay," Jacob said in a sloshed voice. "Hey Quil…I love you man."

"I love you too, Jake," I said looking back at him. Jake was so great!! He was seriously my best friend. I got unsteadily to my feet. "Hey Jake, howd do I tell if nudie is hwat?"

"Dow't know," Jacob laughed like he said the funniest thing in the world and slouched down in his seat again. Jeez, Jacob was such an asshole sometimes.

I made my way wobbly over to Embry and put my hand on his shoulder. Embry was dancing with a girl on each side of him.

"Emberry…I ned you to be my wring man…man." I told him, looking him dead in the eye.

"Dow't worry…I got you…your back." Embry drunkenly stuttered.

"I ned you to tell me if nudie gurl is hwat cause she's blurry to me." I told him, pointing to the girl. The girl in question was looking in my direction.

"What gurl?" Embry said, not really paying attention as one of the girl's he was dancing with started to kiss his neck. I sighed impatiently. Why did I surround myself with useless idiots?

"That gurl!" I yelled over the music, pointing again to the girl with the skin colored tank top.

"Ohhhh…yeah, she's hwat." Embry said.

"Totally hot." The other girl that wasn't kissing Embry's neck said. She turned her back on me in dismissal and started to grind herself on Embry's other side. Embry smiled widely and grabbed her lower back.

I turned around and there she was. She didn't smell unpleasant, but she didn't have the sweet apple smell that Claire had. Claire used this shampoo that always made her smell nice. Oh God, Claire.

"Hi, I'm Tiffany. What's your name?" The girl asked. I could tell she was blonde, but that was about it because her face was really out of focus to me. More so than usual because of the alcohol clouding my brain.

"Quil," I replied.

"Oh…that's sexy," Tiffany said before grabbing my hips and gyrating against them. I suddenly felt sick. It was as though I was doing something very wrong. Then Claire's face popped into my head. Claire.

But Claire left me, I argued with myself. She chose Mickey Mouse over me. Stupid rodent! Besides, she was just a kid. I didn't even see her as someone I would someday be with.

Speaking of which, Tiffany chose that moment to lean forward and stick her tongue in my mouth. I tasted cigarettes on her breath and she suddenly started to reek of a sour smell. I jerked away and her face started to take on a reddish, demonic look.

I freaked out and ran away from her, running straight into the bathroom to throw up. I got up from the toilet and went over to the sink where I washed out my mouth with tap water. I started to head back to the table when I felt someone shove me from behind. I saw a guy shorter than me, with no neck and big muscles, glaring at me.

"I saw you making out with my girlfriend." He said in a threatening manner.

I laughed which only made him angrier. I would love a fight right now. I realized I was drunk and sexually frustrated and had no satisfying way of dealing with it. Furthermore, I missed my imprint like hell, and felt like I had betrayed her by kissing nudie girl.

"You wanna do someting about it, man," I asked and gave him a slight shove. The guy went flying back 10 feet. Oops, guess I hit him harder then I thought. Within seconds a bouncer walked over to me.

"You, you're out of here," the bouncer ordered.

I shrugged off his hand roughly and felt myself begin to tremble. It wasn't my fault that I got attacked by nudie girl's boyfriend. Who the hell did this bouncer think he was anyway? I felt myself getting angrier. Something must have shown in my face because the bouncer backed away. Within seconds, Jacob, Embry, and Seth were at my side and hustling me towards the door.

"Calm down Quil," Jacob ordered as we stepped outside. Somewhere in the time that I had been away from him, Jacob had sobered up a little. "I know you're missing Claire, but you can't take it out on people. You almost phased in there."

"I'm swarry," I said, realizing the danger I almost put us in. "Oh God, I'm a tar…terrible person"

To my horror, I felt tears well up in my eyes and a longing to be with Claire struck me so hard that I started to fall over. Embry and Seth each grabbed one of my arms and put it over their shoulders. We headed back to the hotel.

You know the expression, _beer before liquor, never been sicker?_ All of us were so sick the next morning that we all muttered promises that we would never drink again. Seth made his promise to the porcelain God which he worshipped at most of the morning.

Instead of going out for another night of drinking, we decided to spend the day catching a Mariner's game instead. We each had soda pop along with our hotdogs, completely bypassing the beer stands. Sunday morning, we headed back to the reservation early.

I began to eagerly count the days and hours until Claire would be home. Finally, the following Saturday arrived and I rushed up to Makah to see her. I knocked on the front door and Claire came flying out of the house wearing a Mickey Mouse t-shirt. She jumped up and I held her like I used to when she was a toddler.

"I missed you Quil," Claire mumbled into my neck.

"I missed you too, kiddo." _More than she would ever know._

_A/N – I think some of you may be getting a little antsy for Claire's teenage years…lol. I still have to show some more of her childhood first, but please be patient, because I think it will be worth the wait. Thanks for reading. Please leave a review._


	7. Soap Opera

_A/N – In case you haven't read my other story, "First Imprint (Sam's Story), I need to point out something for this chapter. In Breaking Dawn, seven wolves were mentioned during the Volturi attack scene, however, they weren't named. I gave them the following names Rafe, Will, Mac, Ryan, Azra, Ethan, and Tristen. _

**Chapter 7 – Soap Opera **

"…Will you have this woman to be your wedded wife, to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, and forsaking all others, for so long as you both shall live?"

I turned to look at Claire, my heart warming as she smiled brightly at me. I was so lucky…so honored to have her in my life. I turned back to look at the minister.

"I will," Jacob responded. The minister nodded, before looking at the bride.

"Renesmee, will you have this man to be your wedded husband, to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, and forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live?"

"I will," Ness answered, smiling from ear to ear.

I couldn't believe how quickly Jake and Ness's relationship had changed. When I thought about last year when we had gone to Seattle for Seth's birthday, Jake and Nessie's relationship had just left the friendship stage. And now here they were getting married.

When Jacob had told me last month that he and Ness were going to get married within a month, I didn't think they would pull it off at first. Then I remembered that Ness's aunt was Alice Cullen. She had put together Sam and Emily's wedding within a week. Now here we all were standing next to the river that was in the Cullen's backyard, witnessing Jacob marrying his imprint.

I turned back to look at Claire again to make sure she was alright as she sat between Sam and Emily. She waved back at me and I felt a smile come across my face as I turned again to face forward. I had been so excited when Emily had told me that Claire was coming down for a visit this weekend. Cora was going to a birthday slumber party at her friend's house and Ronnie and Stacy were taking Nicolas to soccer camp this weekend, so Emily had volunteered to watch Claire. This was the first wedding that Claire had ever been invited to, so she was very excited.

Emily had taken Claire out shopping the day before and had bought her a blue dress with white daisies all over it. Emily had also put Claire's long brown hair into a braid. Claire looked so cute that it made me want to burst with pride just looking at her.

I watched as Jake touched Ness's slightly rounded belly as the ceremony continued. I don't think I'll ever forget the day that Jake told me that Ness was pregnant, hence the rush job on the wedding.

Embry and I had been hanging out when we heard a wolf howl. Knowing it was Jacob, we had quickly phased and met him a short distance away from the Cullen property. Seth had also joined us.

"What's up?" Seth had asked. Jacob had looked shocked and excited all at the same time.

"Ness is pregnant," he'd told us in an awed voice.

Before we could even react, a loud "WHAT!!" came from the area where the Cullen house was. Seconds later, Edward came running into the clearing we were in, followed shortly by Bella. I was actually surprised to see that Bella had been able to keep up with Edward as he was supposed to be the fastest vampire in the family. The fierce anger in Edward's face as he spied Jacob had caused the pack to start trembling.

"Its ok, guys," Jacob had assured us. Edward had been about to lunge, but Bella tackled him to the ground before he could do anything. Seconds later the rest of the Cullen clan came to the area. Jasper had run over and put a squirming Edward in a headlock.

"Dad, I told you, I love Jacob," Ness had yelled dramatically.

"I don't care if you love him. You haven't even reached full maturity…what the hell were you two thinking!" Edward had shouted from Jasper's chokehold.

"We want to get married Edward," Jake had spoken up.

At that, I saw Rosalie whisper something angrily to Emmett who shrugged in response to whatever she had said. Before we knew what was about to take place, Emmett had run over to Jacob and had punched him hard in the face. After Jacob had regained consciousness and Carlisle had reset his jaw, we celebrated the upcoming events.

It had been later that day when everyone had started to listen for the baby's heartbeat, that we had realized that there were actually two hearts beating inside of Ness. It was ironic that Ness and Jacob's twins would be the second set of twins of the wolf pack. Jacob's would be joining Jared's twins.

I wondered if it had something to do with the magic in our blood. Perhaps, the wolf gene wanted to create as many children as possible. Although her pregnancy was advancing a lot quicker than a normal pregnancy, Ness wasn't developing as quickly as her mother had. She also didn't have the pain that Bella had dealt with and had developed a strong appetite for human food…as long as it was served extremely rare.

The ceremony got to the part where the couple exchanged rings. I had to look away. Not because I was emotional or anything, but because the smell of vampire coming from the bride's section was burning my nose. I knew all the wolves felt it too.

It was an interesting group of wedding guests. On the groom's side, you had werewolves. On the bride's side, you had vampires. Not a large group of vampires, just the Cullens and their "vegetarian" friends from Alaska, but a couple of Jasper's friends had stopped by the Cullen house on a whim and were invited to the wedding as well. Their red eyes made us all tremble, but the Cullens had assured us there wouldn't be any trouble.

Still, we could only hope that no one phased. Both Sam's pack and Jake's pack were in attendance. Sam's pack was missing just one member and had in fact been missing a member for the past three years. Ryan, our youngest brother, had moved away with his family to the Washington D.C. area when his father had gotten a government job there.

He still kept in touch with Sam though, as Sam was his Alpha leader. Ryan had gotten in the habit of going to wooded regions in the Maryland area a few times a week to phase and check in. He had recently turned 18 though and decided to move back to La Push. Ryan was going to move in with Azra and Tristen who had an apartment on the reservation. In fact, he was supposed to come to the wedding reception later in the evening. We were all excited to see him again.

I felt someone's angry gaze on my back and looked at Embry who was standing in front of me. I noticed where he was staring again and discreetly hit him. He jumped and looked forward stiffly. Embry was my biggest concern right now.

There was an issue with Embry that was more problematic than having a room mixed with werewolves and vampires. Something that even outweighed my fear of having Claire in close proximity to vampires who fed on humans. Embry had finally imprinted. The problem was he imprinted on Jacob's happily married sister, Rebecca Black Cleary.

Rebecca had avoided La Push like the plague for a long time. She hadn't come back in almost nine years and had in fact, moved from the area before we had even phased into wolves. If her family ever saw her, they either went out to Hawaii where she lived with her surfer husband, Ian, or they met somewhere in the continental U.S. that wasn't the state of Washington. Rachel and Paul had been married in Las Vegas, so Rebecca hadn't even had to come back to La Push for her twin's wedding. She had met them in Vegas instead. She finally came back though for her brother's wedding.

When Embry had walked into the wedding rehearsal last night, he stopped dead as soon as he saw Rebecca. Growing up, Rebecca and Rachel had both seemed like older sisters to Embry and me. Seeing Embry, Rebecca walked over to him and gave him a great big hug.

"Hey little brother, it's been a long time," Rebecca had laughed while she hugged Embry. Embry had looked like he never wanted to let her go. Rebecca's husband, who'd been sitting off to the side, had stood up and crossed his arms over his chest, all the while glaring at Embry.

"Yeah…it's been a real long time," Embry had mumbled.

"I can't believe how big you've gotten. Last time I saw you, your voice was cracking, and now look at you. What are they feeding you guys anyway? You, Jacob, and Quil are so huge now." Rebecca had said, her eyes sparkling.

"Oh you know…we're eating our spinach like Popeye." Embry had joked lamely.

Rebecca had rolled her eyes at that and had grabbed his hand to drag Embry over to meet her husband. Her husband had immediately latched his arm around his wife possessively.

"Did he just imprint on my sister?" Rachel had whispered to me, horror in her eyes.

"I'm afraid so," I'd murmured back.

We had all gone out for dinner afterwards. Embry had stared at Rebecca almost the entire time. Rebecca had pretended she hadn't noticed his adoration, but I saw her frown at him once. Her husband, who had apparently gotten fed up with Embry's obsessive behavior, had begun to whisper things in Rebecca's ear that had made her laugh and would every so often kiss his wife's neck. Still, I had noticed several times that Rebecca would look at Embry on the rare occasions he wasn't looking at her.

I'd felt sick for Embry as I had watched the previous night's events unfold and still was worried for him now. I watched him do everything in his power to keep from staring at Rachel for the rest of the ceremony. Luckily, Jacob and Ness had been so wrapped up in their joy for each other that they hadn't even realized what had happened to Embry. I was glad that they wouldn't have this worry on their shoulders. But they and Rebecca were the only ones in the wedding party that hadn't realized what had happened. Rachel kept gnawing on her bottom lip nervously while continuously glancing from Embry to her twin. Embry looked like he was in pain. And I kept waiting for an explosion to happen.

I was pretty sure that the two packs knew what was going on too. I knew that Paul was aware of Embry's imprinting. Rachel had obviously told him what had happened because Paul hadn't left Ian's side since they had walked into the house. Even if Ian finally got sick of Embry's staring and lost it and attacked Embry, he would be the one who would end up getting hurt. People who had tried to hit us before always ended up breaking their hands.

I didn't know what Embry was going to do though. I remembered last year when Claire had gone to Florida. I went two weeks without seeing my imprint and during that time I had become a zombie. I didn't know how Embry would handle not seeing Rebecca every day, especially as she lived so far away and was happily married.

The minister pronounced Jacob and Ness, man and wife. Jacob leaned in and kissed Ness like his life depended on it. Breaking away, they both laughed and headed down the aisle. Next Embry moved slowly to Rebecca and offered her his arm. She smiled at him happily and I saw her place her hand on his sleeve and squeeze. Embry looked like he was in heaven. Next, I moved and offered my arm to Rachel who looked at me with a half smile before looking nervously at her sister.

We made our way over to the reception area. There was a ton of food set up already which the two packs demolished in seconds. I grabbed an extra plate of food and carried it over to the table where I was sitting with Claire and the rest of the wedding party.

She chatted excitedly about how beautiful the bride was to me. I don't think she even remembered that Nessie was the girl she once had a slumber party with. She'd only been five at the time and she was nine now. When I had told her that it was Ness that was getting married, she had laughed and said, "that's a strange name…kind of familiar though" and had left it at that.

The dancing soon started after we ate. To my slight amusement I saw Leah dancing with Will, one of the younger wolves. Dylan was out of town on business so Leah came to the wedding by herself. Will had had a huge crush on Leah when they were younger, although he had never imprinted on her. I guess some things hadn't changed.

I saw Leah laugh as she danced. It was the first genuine laugh she'd had since arriving. I knew that she had problems being around her mother now that her mother had married Charlie Swan. But it had been over seven years since Harry had died. Leah had accepted Charlie in her mother's life, but she wasn't comfortable with it.

There was some commotion at the entrance of the reception area and I looked over. Ryan had arrived and the different pack members were getting up to pat his back or slug his arm. I looked at Ryan in amazement. He had shot up when he first turned into a wolf, but he seemed to have had another growth spurt in the few years he had been gone. He was huge now. Almost as tall as Sam.

"Claire, my friend is here, I'm going to go say hi, you wanna come?" I asked.

"Okay, Quil," Claire smiled at me, jumping from the table and grabbing my hand.

We made our way over to the area Ryan was in. Ryan had just made his way over to say hi to Sam. Seth joined me and Claire and patted her shoulder, saying "hey cuz." I waited for Sam to say hello to Ryan first.

"Ryan, it's good to see you, man." Sam said getting up to hug his youngest pack member before turning to his family. Emily and Gracie were there. Nathaniel was across the area, sitting in a chair next to Ness.

Nathaniel, or Nate as he preferred to be called now that he was a man in kindergarten, had latched onto Ness and had hardly left her side since the reception. He kept going up and touching Nessie's pregnant bell and whispering to it.

"Kind of reminds me of Jacob with Bella when Bella was pregnant with Ness," Seth said, following my stare.

"I wonder if Ness is having twin girls," I replied, before snorting. "Wouldn't that be ironic, if Sam's son hooked up with one of Jacob's daughter's?"

Seth laughed, "Yeah, that wouldn't be too uncomfortable, would it? The two Alphas, who can't even be around each other an entire day have kids that end of getting married. Can you imagine the family reunion?"

"Well, hopefully, Nate won't grow up to have his father's dog problem," I said, glancing at Claire and then back up at Seth in warning.

"Ryan, you remember Emily…and this is my daughter Gracie." I heard Sam say. I looked over at Ryan and froze.

This couldn't be happening again! Sure enough, Ryan was looking at Gracie like he had just won the lottery. Emily looked from Gracie to Ryan and buried her face in her hands. Sam stiffened before trembling slightly.

"Oh what the hell…" Sam said disgustingly.

This wedding was turning into a soap opera. First, you had the constant fear that the guests were going to attack each other. Then you had Embry who had imprinted on a married woman. And now, Ryan just imprinted on his Alpha's 3-year-old daughter. What else could happen tonight?

Sam made a move towards Ryan like he was going to kill him. Emily reached up and grabbed Sam's hand and shook her head. She looked slightly heartbroken. She must have realized that a part of her daughter would belong to Ryan from this point on. Still if there was anyone who understood the importance of being there for your imprint it was Emily.

"Ryan, why don't you join us," Emily offered. Sam was sitting back in his chair, glaring angrily off in the distance. Ryan sat down next to Gracie and stared. Gracie looked up and started to ramble away at Ryan.

"I'm going to get Nate," Sam said, jumping up from the table and making his way to the head table where Jake and Ness were sitting, talking to Nate.

He went over and picked up his son who started yelling until Sam said something in his ear. Nate quieted immediately. Sam in his anger said something to Jake and pointed back to where Ryan was. He also said something that made Jacob stiffen and look over at Embry.

Embry had left the head table and was sitting by himself at a secluded table. He was staring at Rebecca and her husband slow dance with a longing in his eyes that was painful to see. Jacob was as still as a statue and Nessie's jaw dropped open as they realized for the first time that Embry had imprinted. Sam came back to our table looking angry with himself and sat down putting Nate in the chair next to him.

"Sam, you didn't," Emily said, looking at her husband angrily.

"It slipped out, I swear," Sam said, looking ashamed.

I looked back to where Jake was sitting. He leaned over and kissed Ness's cheek before getting up and making his way over to Embry.

"Claire, can you sit with your aunt and uncle for a minute?" I said, looking down at my imprint.

"Sure Quil," Claire said, hugging me, before sitting next to her cousin Nate. Seth looked at me for a minute before sitting down next to his cousins. I walked over and reached Embry at the same time that Jacob did.

"So, I heard you imprinted on my sister," Jake said uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry Jake," Embry said, not even taking his eyes off Rebecca. Jacob sighed and sat down next to Embry. I sat on Embry's other side.

"What are you going to do, Embry?" Jake asked. "Becks has been married for nine years now and she has been very happy with Ian. I don't think they even fight."

"I don't know," Embry said, breaking off his stare to look down. I saw the tears in his eyes as he played with some confetti that was on the table. He sighed before continuing, "What _am_ I going to do? End up like Quil was last year when Claire went to Florida…a vegetable? I mean, what's the point of imprinting if I can't be with her? Aren't we supposed to be together? Do I not even try to be with her? You tell me Jacob."

"You'll be what your imprint needs you to be," Jacob replied. "Maybe all you're meant to be is friends."

"Well that sucks for me then," Embry replied bitterly. "She gets to spend the rest of her life happily married and if I even make out with a girl she'll turn into a demonic, smelly beast."

One night while out patrolling, Embry saw my memory of what had happened to me when I was kissed by nudie girl in Seattle. He had laughed at the time. I thought of what was ahead for Embry and I felt sick for him. Would he have to spend the rest of his life alone? I couldn't imagine what I would do if I couldn't ever see Claire. Just the memory of her being gone for two weeks that one time was enough to make me feel comatose.

"We're going to have the wedding party start dancing soon," Jacob said, wrapping his arm around Embry's shoulder and squeezing. "Spend what time you can with her and just be there for her if she needs you, that's all you can do, Embry."

Embry nodded despondently. Jake got up and walked over to where Alice and Jasper were standing, playing music. He said something and Alice slowed the music down and asked for the wedding party to dance. I went over and started dancing with Rachel. We both watched as Embry met Rebecca half way across the dance floor. They started to dance slowly. As I watched carefully, I noticed Rebecca slowly lean in closer to Embry until their bodies were almost touching.

When the song was over, Rachel went over to Paul and I made my way back to Claire. Rebecca and Embry didn't break away, but continued to dance. Rebecca kept talking excitedly, leaning up to speak close to Embry's ear. There was no distance between their bodies now.

Ian got up from his chair and made his way angrily over to where his wife was dancing. He said something to them, but I couldn't hear what it was over the music blaring loudly. Whatever he said made Embry tremble slightly and Rebecca look embarrassed. Not looking at Embry, she grabbed her husband's hand and both made their way back to their table.

"Quil?" I heard Claire ask. I looked down and smiled at her.

Even though I had a long time to wait before I would even see Claire in a romantic manner, I felt lucky that I wouldn't have to go through what Embry was going through…at least I hoped I wouldn't. The idea of Claire not choosing me after all this time made me feel queasy. Then again, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't picture ever being "in love" with Claire and I felt sicker still as I worried that maybe I wouldn't develop romantic feelings for my imprint. Was that even possible?

"What's up?" I responded to her before I let my panicked thoughts overtake me.

"Can we dance?" Claire asked hopefully. Laughing, I got up from the table and grabbed her hand. We made our way over to the floor where Claire wrapped her little arms around my back and rested her face against my stomach.

"Why haven't you gotten married yet?" Claire asked suddenly, looking up at me. Jeez, did she know what I had been worrying about?

"Umm…I guess its cause I'm still waiting for the right girl." I mumbled, not ready to explain that someday she might be that right girl.

"Do you think you'll ever get married?" Claire asked. I looked down at her as I picked up the worried tone in her voice. Was she holding her breath?

"Probably," I answered vaguely.

"Quil, I--" She paused and didn't continue.

"Just say it Claire-bear," I encouraged her, reverting back to her nickname which she had deemed too childish. She must have been worried about whatever was on her mind, because she didn't even object.

"I was just wondering…if…maybe you would…maybe want to marry me someday?" Claire stuttered.

I looked down at her and saw the embarrassment in her eyes and tried not to smile. She really was the cutest kid. I felt the worry that I had felt all day leave me as I danced with my imprint. I moved her arms so that I could hold her in a way that would let me dip her. She started laughing when I did so. I straightened her up and leaned down to kiss the top of her head.

"You know, I might just do that someday." I told her.

"Promise?" Claire asked hopefully.

"Promise," I told her before twirling her around the dance floor. I thought of Embry and felt the worry hit me again. I really hoped for both Claire's and my sake that I would be able to keep that promise.

_A/N – I was in a class I'm taking yesterday, not paying attention, and I thought of what would happen to a wolf if he imprinted on someone they couldn't have. I thought the idea was interesting enough and something I haven't read before, so I decided to put it in. I was going to make Collin imprint on Rebecca, but it made more sense to me that Embry would do it. That said, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the Embry story line yet. I'm either going to work it into this story or I'm going to write a separate story. If I end up writing a separate story, I won't write it until this story is completed. Anyway, I know a lot of things happened in this chapter, but I hoped you liked it. __**Please review.**_


	8. Other Man

_A/N – Thank you so much for the feedback on the last chapter. I'm glad it was so well received. I just wanted to take a moment to clear something up. Nate couldn't have imprinted on one of Ness's babies. He's not a wolf. Only wolves can imprint. However...umm…nope, I'm going to stop right there. Also, I think I came up with enough material for an "Embry" story. I won't start writing it though until this one is finished. _

**Chapter 8 – Other Man**

Quil's POV

"Quil, I have a favor to ask?" Stacy said through the phone line.

"Shoot," I replied.

"Nick fell at school today and hurt his arm. I'm taking him to the hospital right now. I was supposed to go to the Olympic Skate Center in Port Angeles with Claire and her classmates. They're spending the afternoon roller skating, and I had volunteered to help keep an eye on the kids. Would you be able to fill in for me?"

"Absolutely," I didn't even hesitate, "When are they going to get there?"

"They should be arriving there by bus in about an hour."

"Ok, I'm on my way," I told her before we said our goodbyes.

I went into the garage of the shop. Jake and another mechanic we had hired, Mike, were huddled around the engine of a car they were working on. Embry was standing nearby looking at something on a clipboard. He had his usual scowl on his face which he seemed to permanently have nowadays.

"Embry, I'm going to cut out early," I let him know.

"Fine," Embry said, not looking up.

Embry had become a former shell of himself since he had imprinted on Rebecca. He had always been quiet. Now he seemed to be dead inside. When he wasn't working at the shop, he was by himself. He stopped hanging out with Jake and me. When he phased, he patrolled by himself. It was too painful for the rest of the pack to be inside his head.

The only relief he seemed to have in imprinting was that the mystery of who his father was, was down to two candidates. We had all figured that Embry's dad had to be either Billy Black, my dad, or Sam's dad. With Embry imprinting on Rebecca, that eliminated Billy as a candidate. My parents had always been disgustingly happy together, so there was a good change that Sam's dad was his father.

Although Embry spent a lot of time alone, he wasn't always by himself. He had begun to sleep around with a lot of women because it caused him physical pain. Physical pain was much better to him than the emotional hell he was living in. It seemed like he was determined to punish himself for imprinting on a married woman.

Sighing I turned away from Embry and headed out the garage. At least Sam handled Ryan imprinting on his daughter a lot better then Embry had handled his imprinting. After Sam had calmed down about his little girl finding her soulmate at three-years-old, he welcomed Ryan back into the fold with open arms.

When Ryan wasn't attending classes at the local community college or patrolling, he was hanging out with Gracie at Sam's house. I don't think Sam realized yet that there might come a day when he wouldn't want to patrol anymore with Ryan. Especially when Gracie matured and she and Ryan started dating. I could just imagine how uncomfortable that would be for Sam and Ryan being in each others' heads during that time.

As I headed towards my car, Ness and the twins pulled up. Jacob followed me out of the building and went over to the car to kiss Nessie through the open window. It was their one year wedding anniversary this weekend.

I waved at the twins and both waved back. Ness's labor hadn't been pretty. Her pregnancy had progressed slower than her mother's had. She went into labor when she was five months along. Because she had finally reached maturity, her skin had been too hard to cut open with a scalpel, so Carlisle had had to cut her open with his teeth. Luckily, the human part of her accepted morphine pills pretty well and she was knocked out for the delivery. The vampire part of her helped her recover rather quickly and she was back on her feet after a few days.

The twins had been the normal size of a newborn when they arrived. Gabriel was the oldest of the twins by a few minutes. He was a little miniature of his father. Meena had her mother's curls, but they were black instead of bronze colored. And even though both her parents had brown eyes and brown eyes were typically the dominant gene, Meena had inherited her Grandpa Edward's eyes. They were a startling emerald green color. The few times that Sam had brought Nathaniel and Gracie over to play with the twins, Nate had been completely fascinated with Meena and followed her around anywhere she crawled.

It was funny to see the twins in action. Meena seemed to be more like the vampire side of the family. She craved blood and preferred that to human food. Gabe on the other hand, ate any human food that was in sight. Both were physically strong and although they were only 7-months-old, they both looked closer to a year old. They grew fast, but not as quickly as Ness had.

And they both had inherited another family gene. They both had powers. Their powers were discovered one day when the twins were about three-months-old. They had been crawling around on the floor when Meena stopped in the middle of the floor and disappeared into thin air.

No one had been able to find her. They couldn't hear her heartbeat or smell her scent. While the entire family went into a blind panic, Gabe laughed and made his way to the corner of the room and put his arms out. As soon as Gabe's arms encircled an invisible entity, Meena reappeared giggling.

To Embry's joy, Rebecca had come back to La Push for another quick visit months after the wedding. She had gotten over her hatred for the area and had come back to see her newborn niece and nephew. I thought her change of heart was interesting because she hadn't even come home when her twin Rachel had had her son Devlin.

Rebecca's husband, Ian, hadn't been able to come with her because of a surfing competition. Rebecca had been surprised by how big the kids were and with confusion in her voice said that the twins must have taken after their father.

Rachel had told Jacob and me that Rebecca had realized at the wedding how much she missed being home. Embry had been ecstatic when Rebecca had come back and they had spent quite a bit of time together while she was here. But every time Rebecca received a call from her husband and would happily chat to him, Embry would get an expression on his face that looked like he'd eaten cyanide. When Rebecca finally left for home merrily waving to everyone as she left, Embry went to Seattle for a week and didn't have contact with anyone.

As I hopped in my car and made my way to Port Angeles, I began to think about Claire. It sometimes made me a little sad that Claire seemed to be growing up so fast. She was no longer my Claire-bear who used to read her wolf book obsessively every night. She was now just Claire. A 10-year-old girl who liked purple nail polish, strawberry bubble gum, and who had her bedroom walls plastered with the world's latest boy band.

I pulled into the roller skating rink just as the yellow school bus pulled in. The kids started piling out and made their way towards the entrance. I saw Claire surrounded by her friends, Lindsey, Ashley, and Amber. Claire saw me and waved before making her way over to me.

"Hey Quil, where's my mom?" Claire asked.

She seemed to have some sort of glitter on her face and hair. I could smell the strawberry gum even from a short distance. Her friends behind her huddled together and started whispering and giggling as they looked over at us. I heard something about "he's so hot" and felt the tips of my ears burn.

"Hey Claire. Your brother hurt his arm and your mom had to take him to the hospital. So I told her I'd help out."

"Is he ok?" Claire asked, worry cloudy her eyes.

"He should be fine," I assured her although in my excitement to see Claire, I realized that I had forgotten to ask.

"Hey C, you coming?" Lindsey asked.

"Yeah," Claire called back. C? When did that start? Claire grabbed my hand and dragged me over to her teacher. She glared at her friends who said "ooooh."

"Ms. Baxter, this is a family friend, Quil Ateara. He's filling in for my mom cause my brother hurt his arm." Claire explained. Ms. Baxter eyed me with interest.

"Nice to meet you," She said, holding her hand out to me. "Your name sounds familiar."

"My name's listed as an emergency contact on Claire's contact card," I explained, shaking her hand before quickly letting it go.

"Oh, that's where I've heard it. It was kind of different, which is why I remember it." Claire's teacher said, tipping her head to the side.

"C, come on," Ashley said and the girls started giggling again.

"You ok Quil?" Claire asked. She had been watching the exchange between me and her teacher with wary frown.

"Yeah, go have fun," I told her. She smiled at me, before glancing at her teacher and then turned to join her friends.

She reached the girls who started with the "oooohs" again. She lightly shoved Ashley through the entrance and I heard her say, "You guys are so spastic!"

I chuckled before turning back to Claire's teacher, "Well Mrs. Baxter I'm here to help, what do you need me to do?"

"It's Ms. and you can call me Karen," Karen told me. I think she was smiling, but she was too blurry for me to tell. "I'd say with all those muscles, why don't you set yourself up near the rink. If anyone starts fighting or kissing, you just need to step in and break them up."

I didn't know what startled me more, her obvious attempts to flirt with me or the fact that 10-year-olds would be thinking about kissing. I nodded to her and made my way inside the building. I bought a pizza and a soda pop from the deli area and made my way to an empty table near the rink. I watched Claire and her friends skate. Claire waved to me as she went by and her friends started giggling again. Jeez, were tween girls always so giggly?

Karen came over and sat down next to me. "So how long have you known the Young family?" She asked, leaning towards me. The music playing in the rink blared loudly.

"Since Claire was two," I responded, not taking my eyes off the rink. Claire skated by again quickly. I sat up straight. She was going way too fast.

"So what do you do for a living?" Karen asked. She made a move which made her boobs stick out. I looked at her and gave her a half smile. I couldn't help it. It had been a long time since I even attempted to flirt with someone.

"I own an auto repair shop with a friend," I told her. She started getting blurrier. I sighed and turned my attention back to the skaters.

"Really, that's great," Karen replied, giving a coy little laugh.

'Yeah, it is," I replied, half paying attention to what she was saying. After a few minutes, Karen sighed and got up to speak to a group of parents standing nearby.

Claire and her friends pulled off to the side of the rink and were laughing and looking at a group of boys on the other side of the room. I frowned and looked down at my pizza as I remembered Karen mentioning 10-year-olds kissing. Claire really was too young for that kind of crap...stop! I had to end that train of thought.

I wasn't her big brother anymore. Claire called me almost every night to talk about school or to confide her daily problems to me. Because I had contact with her via the phone, I didn't have to make my nightly runs up to her house anymore. Instead I went to Makah every weekend and helped her with her homework. I was there to support her. And somewhere along the line, our relationship went from brotherly/sisterly to best friends.

"Hey Quil, having fun?"

I looked up to see Claire standing in front of me. The lights of the rink shimmered off the glitter on her face. She seemed to be filled with an inner glow and I smiled as her happiness reached out and embraced me.

"Hey Claire-bear, yeah I am."

"Quuuill, I told you, I'm too big for that name now," Claire declared, rolling her eyes at me.

"Oh right, sorry." I said, grinning at the look of disgust on her face.

I could see Lindsey, Amber, and Ashley standing a few tables away. Amber looked over to the rink and then coughed loudly. Claire threw her long hair back over her shoulder and started to laugh. I looked at her in bewilderment.

"Oh Quil, you're soooo funny," Claire laughed, leaning down to slug me on the shoulder. I continued to stare at her in confusion.

"Claire, what are you doing?" I asked.

Did someone slip her something in her juice? If they did, I would track them down and kick the living shit out of them. I wouldn't even care if the kid was a 10-year-old.

"Quil, please act like I said something really funny," Claire pleaded desperately.

'What…why?" I asked feeling like I had just landed on an alien planet.

"Ok…you see that boy over there…no, don't look," Claire ordered me when I moved my head. "Without him seeing you, look at him."

"Who am I supposed to be looking at?" I questioned.

"Matt Miller…he is sooo cute," Claire sighed dramatically. "He's has blond hair and the dreamiest brown eyes. He's wearing the blue shirt with the green stripes."

I carefully looked over at the rink floor. A kid matching Claire's description went by us quickly. He glared at me fiercely which caused Lindsey, Amber, and Ashley to giggle hysterically. They reminded me of a pack of hyenas.

"Ok, I see him." I told her without moving my head.

"Isn't he super cute?" Claire gushed.

I looked over again. The kid was scrawny. And short…very short. Well, maybe he was tall for his age. He seemed taller than the other boys he was skating with. Claire leaned over and hugged me before whispering in my ear.

"Is he looking at me Quil…no, wait don't look yet," Claire said before sitting down in the chair next to me and putting her hand on my shoulder. "Ok, look now, is he staring at me?"

I looked over at the kid that Claire had pointed out. He was switching his gaze between glaring at me again and looking over at Claire. Seconds later he whipped out. He got up and glanced around quickly to see if anyone noticed. I snickered.

"Yeah, I'd say he's looking at you, kiddo."

"Oh swoon!" Claire said before getting up and skating off to join her girlfriends.

All of a sudden a disco ball started twirling and a voice came over the loudspeaker and said "ladies choice." The music changed and slowed down. Claire made her way over to Scrawny and asked him to skate with her. They did a lap around the rink. I could hear them as they skated by.

"So is that guy your boyfriend?" Scrawny asked.

"Who Quil? Ew, no, he's just a friend. Besides he's really old," Claire laughed. Scrawny felt more confident at that declaration and reached out and grabbed Claire's hand.

Really old? Is that what she called me? The whole pizza that I had just consumed churned in my stomach. Damn, I was only 24. I didn't think that constituted being ancient. I suddenly felt like I was a 100-years-old. I sat slumped in my chair not even really watching the skaters as I let self-pity overtake me. Some of the other parents joined me and chatted amicably. I responded when I needed to, but I didn't listen to anything that was really being said. Finally, the field trip was over.

Claire ran over to me and hugged me before she boarded the bus. I noticed Scrawny waiting outside the bus door for her.

"Thank you so much for coming Quil!" Claire said as she hugged me tight.

"Sure thing Claire, I'm glad you had fun today." I told her, hugging her back.

I let her go and she ran back to the bus. Scrawny grabbed her hand possessively and pulled her up the bus stairs. I called Stacy and let her know that they were on their way back. She said she'd let Ronnie know as she was still at the hospital with Nick.

I got my decrepit ass in my car and headed for home. If Claire was boy crazy at ten, I was already dreading her teen years.

_A/N – Thanks again to everyone who has left me feedback so far. I really appreciate all comments so **please leave me a review**. Thanks._


	9. The Talk

**Chapter 9 – The Talk**

I held Claire's hand as we walked on the beach. Claire was spending the summer in La Push. It was her reward for getting good grades during the past school year. Claire loved La Push and wanted to spend every moment she could on my reservation.

She told me once while we were talking on the phone that when she wasn't in La Push, she missed it so much it actually hurt. I didn't know if that was because she generally liked the area, she was being overly dramatic, or if it was because her subconscious was starting to feel the pull between us getting stronger. No matter what the reason, I was incredibly happy that Claire was so close by.

Emily and Sam had graciously opened their home to Claire for the summer. Claire got to hang out with her cousins Nate, who was now eight, and Gracie who was six, and I got to spend time with Claire. Nate loved having his cousin nearby. He had been really upset for a long time after the Cullens and Jacob and his family had moved last year.

The Cullens had moved to Vermont. Dr. Cullen had gotten a job at a hospital there. They had moved to a wooded area that had a lot of wild game in it. Though they loved Forks, they had already stayed there a lot longer than they normally would live in an area. They had decided to leave after someone made a comment to the doc about how young he looked for his age. Stacy had pestered me about that once, but Ronnie told her to leave me alone. He had said "the Quileutes just have good genes, now stop bugging him."

With Jacob in Vermont, Seth, Embry, and I had switched our loyalties back to Sam and rejoined his pack under Jacob's request. It was another reason Sam welcomed Claire into his home for the summer. He already had to deal with Embry's longing for his imprint. With Claire nearby, he didn't have to put up with me longing for Claire.

The pack still had to be on our guard in regards to vampires coming to the area. After the Volturi had tried to attack the Cullens years ago, some of the Cullens' vampire friends who had stood by the Cullens, had fallen in love with the area. Some would occasionally come back to Forks and would use the Cullens' vacant house as a vacation spot. The Cullens okayed this under two conditions. One, their friends couldn't hunt in the area. And two, they had to meet with Sam and the pack before staying at the house.

Sam would get a call from the Cullens letting him know that friends would be in the area.

The pack would then meet with the guests at the Cullens' house so that we could smell their scent. We didn't want to wrongly attack one of their friends. The agreement was though that if the friends didn't check in with Sam first, or if they hunted in the region, we would have free will to attack them. Luckily, we hadn't had any incidents yet.

I looked down at Claire as we walked on the beach. In a couple of months she would be starting junior high. I had brought her down to the beach to give her an early birthday present. I was taking Claire to see her favorite boy band. It was still a couple of months before her 12th birthday, but the band was coming to Seattle this weekend.

I glanced down at her again and was surprised by some of the physical changes I took in. Claire had started to get a lot taller in the past year and was even carrying herself differently. There was a slight sway to her hips as she walked now. Much to my chagrin, I couldn't help but notice that Claire was also starting to develop curves that hadn't been there last year. It felt almost incestuous to think of her that way, but she was becoming a beautiful young woman.

I knew she was popular too, which was why I found her request to spend the summer in La Push a little odd. Even though she might long to be on my reservation, I was surprised that she didn't want to spend her summer with her friends. Last time she had confided in me, she and her boyfriend Jon, were still going strong.

Poor Matt Miller hadn't even lasted the bus ride home from the roller rink. A few months, later, she had developed a crush on some kid named Tyler. Then Jon moved to the Makah reservation halfway through Claire's 6th grade year and Claire had declared him "uber cute."

I thought Jon was more fitting for Claire anyway. He was a jock and more importantly, he was an avid Seahawks fan. I couldn't help but like the kid. Of course, when I first met him, I had given him "the look." You know the, "If you mess with Claire or break her heart, I'll kill you" look.

Emily had asked me once how I handled Claire being interested in so many boys and if I was jealous. The honest answer was no, I wasn't jealous. To be jealous to me meant I was romantically interested in Claire, which I wasn't. I still didn't see her in any romantic light. I wondered sometimes if that was weird. But the truth was, as long as Claire was happy then I was happy. She was acting just like anyone else her age, which was all I wanted for her.

We stopped walking and Claire went to sit down. As she didn't let go of my hand, I sat down next to her. I reached into the pocket of my shorts where I had hidden the tickets, but froze as I noticed the look on her face. There was something bothering her.

"What's up Claire-bear?" I asked which earned an eye roll.

"Quil, have you ever had sex?" Claire asked, turning slightly towards me.

"What?" I asked in shock.

'Have you ever, you know, done it before?" Claire repeated, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Why are you asking about that?"

Claire hesitated before saying, "I just wondered when someone should have sex."

"In your case, not until you're married." I told her earnestly.

Claire laughed at that. "What if I don't get married until I'm 40?"

"Then you don't have sex until your 40," I said, satisfied and yet oddly disgruntled at that idea all at the same time.

"I'm serious Quil," Claire said. She had brought her knees up so that they were under her chin. She put my hand on her knee and rested her cheek on top of it as she stared at me.

"Is this something to do with Jon?" I asked, going into "protector" mode. If that kid was pressuring her to have sex, I'd kick the shit out of him, I didn't care if he was a Seahawks fan or not.

"No, Jon and I broke up. He was much too juvenile for me," Claire stated as she let our entwined hands fall to the sand. I snorted. Claire just got out of 6th grade and she thought that Jon was too immature for her?

"Why are you worried about sex?" I questioned.

"Jon and I kissed and I just wondered if maybe that was what he expected next." Claire said blushing.

"Your first kiss, huh?" I said with amusement. "How'd it go?"

"It was..umm…really wet. He got slobber all over my chin," Claire said, looking both embarrassed and disgusted. I turned my head to hide the smile on my face. It sounded exactly like my first kiss.

"Claire, you don't need to worry about sex yet. When the time comes, you'll know. But do me a favor and don't even think about it until you're out of high school." I implored.

"Is that what you did?"

I looked at waves again. Dammit, how did I even get myself in this conversation? I didn't even know if it was appropriate for me to be talking to her about this, but I was her best friend. We didn't hide things from each other. Still, I didn't want to confide the truth either. What kind of example was I setting?

When I continued to ignore her, she squeezed my hand. "Come on Quil, have you ever had sex before?"

I opened my mouth to lie and say no, but instead a "yes" popped out. I cursed myself. Stupid imprint magic. Why couldn't we lie to our imprints just once?

"Really?" Claire said. To my shame she actually looked disappointed in me. She let go of my hand and wrapped her arms around her legs. The loss of her hand was as symbolic as a smack across the face.

"It was a while ago," I tried to explain and didn't know why I felt so guilty. Hell, I slept with Jessica months before I even imprinted on Claire. Before I even knew she existed!

"How old were you when you did it the first time?" Claire asked somewhat stiffly. The first time? What'd she think I was now, some sex crazed gigolo?

"Sixteen." Again I answered truthfully. Dammit, dammit, dammit.

Claire looked at me like I had just crawled out from under a rock. "So I'm not allowed to have sex until I'm either out of high school or I'm 40, but you had sex when you were 16? That's kind of hypocritical of you, don't you think?"

"True." I joked, but by the angry set of her shoulders, I knew Claire wasn't in the mood to laugh.

Sighing I spoke again, "Listen Claire, I should have waited to have sex until I found someone I loved and wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I didn't. All I can ask from you is that you wait until you find someone you truly love before you decide to go that far. It's a big decision to make and it's also something you shouldn't even be considering right now. You're not even 12 yet. Enjoy being your age and don't worry about sex yet, okay?"

Claire nodded, but her shoulders were still stiff.

"Promise me Claire," I begged. The idea of someone her age even thinking about having sex made me feel slightly ill.

"Fine," Claire finally responded, but she still didn't look at me. I sighed.

"So I asked you to come down here because I wanted to give you an early birthday present. Are you interested?' I asked, gently nudging her arm with my elbow. She flinched when I made contact with her skin and I felt it like a punch to the stomach. Did I ruin her perception of me from what I had unwillingly admitted?

"What is it?" Claire asked after hesitating for a minute.

I reached in my pocket and pulled out the tickets for the concert and gave them to her. I saw her eyes widen as she took in the name on the tickets.

"Really?" Claire questioned, a slight smile slowly creeping along her lips.

"Yes, really," I told her and laughed as she squealed and threw her arms around my neck. "Your mom is bringing your sister down tomorrow morning and I'm taking both of you."

"Thank you Quil…thank you!" Claire said, kissing my cheek before she got up and started jumping up and down, holding the tickets to her chest and screaming. I laughed as Claire finally acted her age.

The next morning we waited patiently for Cora to arrive, or at least I did. Claire kept pacing and glancing at the clock as she chatted excitedly to Emily about the upcoming concert. Ryan was lying on the floor drawing in a coloring book with Gracie. Nate was leaning against his father's arm as they sat together on the couch watching TV.

When I first told Sam where I was taking the girls, he laughed at me. Now he kept shaking his head and saying things like "you have no clue what you're getting yourself in to." I heard a car pull up to the house and a minute later Cora and Stacy walked in.

"Aren't you sooo excited?" Claire asked as she ran to her sister after hugging her mom.

"I guess," Cora said in an obnoxious teenage tone and rolled her eyes. She didn't fool me though. I knew she was as excited about this concert as her sister was.

She glanced over at Ryan and stiffened. Somewhere around the time that Cora had turned 13, she had developed a major crush on Ryan who was always at Sam's house whenever she came to visit. She had flirted with him to the best of her capabilities, but he had ignored her, his attention completely fixated on Gracie. Because of that rejection, you normally had to drag Cora kicking and screaming to La Push.

We said our goodbyes and got into the car and started the long drive to Seattle. We stopped to eat on our way, but still made it to the concert in time. About 10 minutes into the show, I finally understood what Sam was laughing about.

The audience consisted of mostly tween or young teenaged girls. The rest of the audience was made up of long suffering parents. The screaming that resonated through the stadium was enough to make my overly sensitive ears want to bleed. When the boys started singing a ballad in a whiney, nasally tone and the screams reached pandemonium level, I made the girls leave their seats to come with me to a souvenir stand we had passed earlier so that I could buy some earplugs.

While we were there, Cora talked Claire into talking me into buying them both concert t-shirts. They raced to the women's bathroom to change into their new shirts as I waited nervously outside the bathroom entrance. I didn't like either girl being out of my sight in this crowd.

Finally, they both came back into view and we made our way back to our seats. Claire went to reach for my hand but hesitated. I reached down and grabbed it anyway. We had always had such an easy relationship before our conversation on the beach yesterday. I hated the idea that anything had changed between us.

Claire looked up at me and smiled somewhat sadly. I gently squeezed her hand. As we sat in our seats, I went to let go of her hand, but she held on to it tightly. We watched the rest of the show that way. By the time we headed towards the car at the end of the concert, my head was killing me and my ears were ringing. The girls both fell asleep in the car as I drove the five hour trip back.

When we got home, I woke the girls up and they both made their way tiredly to the guest bedroom at Sam's house. After they changed into their pajamas, I went in to say goodnight to them. Cora was already sleeping. Claire was just climbing into bed. As I walked over to whisper goodnight to her, she rolled over on her side so that she was facing away from me.

"Goodnight Quil, thank you again for my birthday present," Claire said and there was a new maturity in her voice that I hadn't noticed until that moment.

My heart ached slightly as I realized that something had definitely changed between us. We would never have the same relationship again.

_A/N – Ok everyone, I hope you've enjoyed seeing Claire's youth because from this point on, it's on to the teen years! __**Please leave me a review.**_


	10. P Word

_A/N – I forgot to mention this in my previous chapter, but for future reference, I changed the spelling of Mina's name (Ness's daughter), to Meena. Also, a couple of people have asked me about doing a couple of chapters in Claire's POV. I do have a couple of chapters planned from her perspective, but not until she's a little older. Thanks again for all the great reviews. I hope you enjoy Claire's teen years._

**Chapter 10 – "P" Word**

Quil's POV

A month after Claire's 13th birthday, her parents had given Claire permission to get her ears pierced. I volunteered to take Claire for the momentous occasion. I drove up to Makah to pick Claire up after school, and we headed to Port Angeles to a jewelry store there that pierced ears. She was going to spend the night at her Aunt Emily's after that.

"So Claire, how's school going?" I asked. Claire had just started her 8th grade year a few weeks ago.

"Fine," Claire said as she slouched down in her seat and stared out the window.

I looked over at her just as she turned her head back and glanced at me. A slight blush appeared on her cheeks as she quickly turned away again. I turned my attention back to the road. We drove another 10 minutes in uncomfortable silence.

She turned her head to stare out the front window and I glanced back at her profile. I was startled to realize that there was an unnatural color on her eyelids and her lips were a different shade then normal. It was very subtle though. When did Claire start wearing makeup? Had I suddenly become unobservant or was this something new since I saw her last weekend.

I thought back to when my sister, Kya, started wearing makeup. She must have been around Claire's age, but considering she was a five years older than me, I didn't really pay attention to what she did as a teen.

It was a shame that Claire thought she needed makeup. She was a pretty kid. She didn't need it. But I guess that came with the age. I frowned as I continued to drive. The makeup wasn't the only thing different about her. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was a change in Claire.

"Can we listen to some music?" Claire asked suddenly, reaching into her backpack.

"Sure," I replied, hopeful that the music would produce a more relaxed atmosphere.

She reached over and put a CD into the car's stereo system. Some obscure indie rock music started playing. I froze. When did she start listening to this type of music? Wasn't she listening to that whiney boy band anymore? Not that I objected; this music was an improvement over the other garbage, but it still bugged me that her musical tastes had changed and I hadn't realized it.

I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised though. Once upon a time, Claire and I had talked on the phone almost every night. After I had admitted to her that I had had sex before, she cut back on her phone calls and now only called a few times a week. Our conversations were usually pretty stilted. I wasn't even sure why she called me anymore, but I was thankful that she did. I missed the easy relationship that had existed between us though.

As we reached the Port Angeles city limit, Claire's cell phone went off. It was a present that she had received from her parents for her birthday. It was only supposed to be used for emergencies.

"Hey Lindsey," Claire said, after looking at the caller ID. "He did? Oh swoon…like, yeah, he's only the cutest guy in school…ok, let me know." She hung up the phone and put it in her bag.

"I thought that you were only supposed to use that for emergencies." I lectured.

Claire rolled her eyes, "That was an emergency."

"Uh huh. So who are you crushing on now?" I asked. I had a sneaking suspicion that that hadn't come out as cool as I wanted it too.

To my surprise, Claire didn't burst out with a name or mock me for my pathetic use of the word "crushing." Instead, her cheeks turned a crimson red color.

She hesitated before saying, "No, not me. Lindsey has a thing for this guy, Chris. He told his friend Curt, who told Ashley, who told Lindsey, that he totally likes Lindsey. He's like really cute, and she wants him to ask her to a dance we're having at school. Lindsey told Ashley to give Curt her phone number so that he could give it to Chris. I guess he's supposed to call her sometime tonight."

It was really mind-blowing how teenage minds worked. Instead of going directly to the source, they used their friends as a sort of chain mail. I'd be surprised to find out if any of the kids ended up at the dance. By the time they got their messages through to the right person, the dance would be over.

"What about you? Who are you going with?" I asked. Claire's already flushed cheeks turned an even brighter red.

"Oh, I don't think I'm gonna go," she responded, looking carefully out the passenger window again.

"Why not? No one you're interested in?"

"Umm, no…I don't like any of the boys at school…could we not talk about this?" Claire pleaded.

"Sure, but Claire, any guy would be lucky to be your date," I told her, reaching over to squeeze her hand on the seat. She smiled at me and held my hand until we pulled up to the jewelry store that Stacy had told me about.

As soon as we walked into the shop, I had a feeling that maybe getting Claire's ears pierced wasn't such a good idea. The look of the lady who greeted us did not reassure me that Claire would make it out of the procedure alive.

The woman had black hair that was dyed dark green in certain areas. She had earrings that ran all along both earlobes and she also had two rings in her bottom lip, one in her nose, and one through one of her eyebrows. Her name tag said her name was Raven. She walked Claire over to a stand and told Claire to pick out some "virgin" earrings. Claire's face went red again at that word.

"Do you think that's appropriate to say to a kid?" I whispered angrily at the woman. When she stared at me blankly, I said, "You know the word, _virgin_."

The woman looked like she was going to roll her eyes at me, but must have realized that it wasn't professional. She still said in an obnoxious tone, "Hello, that's what the earrings are called."

Claire excitedly picked out some birthstone earrings and sat in a chair that the woman directed her into. I had to sign a consent form because Claire was only 13. I also gave the woman a written permission slip signed by Stacy.

The woman picked up what looked to be a gun and loaded one of Claire's chosen earrings into it. She then stood in front of Claire and dotted both ears with a marker. Putting the gun against the mark on Claire's one ear, she pulled a trigger and with a loud click, the earring went through.

The snap of the gun made Claire and I jump. Claire had tears in her eyes after the first earring went in. It took every ounce of my control to not yank the gun out of the woman's hand and implant the remaining earring into the middle of her forehead. I was contemplating doing just that when I felt Claire's hand against mine.

Looking down, I saw Claire squeeze my hand as the woman loaded up the gun again and went to Claire's other ear. I was distracted for a moment as I looked down at Claire's nails which were painted alternatively blue and green. I heard another loud click and then it was over.

The woman handed Claire a mirror. Claire was ecstatic over her earrings and kept turning her face from side to side to see them better. I, myself, felt queasy and wondered if I might possibly faint for the first time in my life.

Why did people do that do themselves? Getting your ears pierced was completely barbaric. Never again would Claire be allowed to do something like this. If she said she wanted to get anything else pierced, there was no way I was going to allow it….well, unless she begged. Then I wouldn't be able to refuse her anything.

I paid for the procedure and bought some solution that Claire was supposed to dab the new piercings with. As we drove to La Push, Claire chatted amicably, telling me all about her friend Amber's latest fight with her boyfriend. After a half hour into the drive she started to look sick. She tried very hard to hide it, but I saw her bend forward slightly and wince.

"Claire, are you ok?" I asked, instantly worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Claire said, but there was something off in her voice.

"Are you sure?" I questioned. Did she have an infection from the earrings? Did she need to be hospitalized?

"I said I'm fine," Claire replied in a testy tone.

We finally pulled up to Emily and Sam's house. I saw the front door open as Sam heard my car arrive. Claire winced again and shifted in her seat.

"Claire, you're not fine. Listen, I'm going to take you to the hospital."

"Quil, I said I'm fine. What don't you get about that? You just don't understand anything." Claire suddenly yelled.

She jumped out of the vehicle and ran into the house. I heard her run up the stairs and then heard the bathroom door slam. I got out of my car quickly. I was sick with fear now. Something was definitely wrong with Claire.

"What was that all about?" Sam asked as he walked towards me. Emily followed behind him, looking equally worried.

"I have no idea. I don't know what the hell happened." I said, gesturing to the house with my hand. "One minute we were talking and the next minute she started shifting around in her seat and looking sick. I told her I'd take her to the hospital, but she jumped down my throat before she ran into the bathroom in the house."

"Oh? Oh, that's right Stacy told me…" Emily said almost to herself, before she looked at the concern on Sam's and my face and started to laugh.

Seeing my anxiety , Emily smirked and continued, "Quil, I can assure you nothing is wrong with Claire."

"But she's in pain." I replied, looking at the house again. I thought I heard Emily mutter something that sounded like "men."

"Quil…how do I explain this…there comes a time in a girl's life when she starts to become a woman. That's all that's going on with Claire."

"You mean she got her period?" Sam asked in a loud voice which earned a "shh" from Emily.

Period? Was that what was happening to Claire? While a part of me was relieved that Claire wasn't dying, another part of me felt numb. How the hell did I handle this? I thought about how things had been with my sister. I remembered Kya always had a heating pad across her stomach when she was dealing with what my mother called the "P" word. She also became extremely irritable during that time and the only thing that seemed to help was chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate.

"Maybe I should go get some chocolate." I offered.

"Well, chocolate is not going to help her if she has cramps," Emily said frankly. I felt my ears burn in embarrassment. I didn't think I was ready for this. Emily added, "Besides we have enough here already."

Emily looked at me and started to laugh. "Sam, why don't you take Quil into the living room. He's looking a little shell shocked. I'm going to go check on Claire."

She turned to go, but stopped and gave both Sam and me a dirty look, "Don't you dare make a big deal out of this. Teenage girls are usually pretty self-conscious about things like this. She'll be humiliated if you let on that you know."

I nodded and grabbed Claire's overnight bag out of the backseat of the truck and made my way slowly into the house with Sam close behind. I sat on the couch and stared blankly at the television. It took me a minute to realize it wasn't even on. I glanced around.

"Where are Gracie and Nate?"

"Nate's upstairs playing some video game. Gracie is spending the night at her friend's."

"Oh," I replied. I felt like I was in a daze.

"Did you hear about Rachel and Paul?" Sam asked as he turned on the TV.

"No," I replied, trying to focus. Rachel was pregnant again. They were expecting another boy which was due in another month.

"There have been some complications. Rachel was put on bed rest." Sam informed me, his brow furrowing.

"How's Paul holding up?" I questioned, instantly concerned. Rachel had suffered a miscarriage a couple of years after Devlin had been born. It had taken them awhile to get pregnant again.

"You know Paul and how he handles stress. He picked a fight with Brady earlier today. They tore into each other pretty bad before I got to them and made them stop." Sam answered before continuing, "Rebecca's coming back to help Rachel for the next few weeks. I guess she got leave from work."

I froze at this. I wondered how Embry was going to handle this. Having Rebecca around for a few weeks? Would that make things better or worse for him when she left again?

I heard a noise and looked up and saw Claire and Emily come down the stairs. Claire made her way over to where I was sitting and sat down on the opposite side of the couch from where I was. She looked over at me and blushed again.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier." Claire said awkwardly.

"That's ok," I replied, feeling equally as uncomfortable. Claire turned her head so that all I could do was stare at the side of her face.

"You know, I'd love some chocolate," I said suddenly. It came out louder then I expected and I made us all jump. "Who wants chocolate…Claire?"

"I…guess," Claire said, looking at me like I had grown two heads.

Emily rolled her eyes at me before saying, "There's a bag of _Reese's Peanut Buttercups_ in the cupboard next to the fridge."

I went into the kitchen and grabbed the bag. I carried it back to the couch and sat down next to Claire. Opening the bag, I handed her five cups. She looked at me funny again and put all of them back in the bag except for one.

"Do you need anything Claire?" I asked.

"No," she responded, avoiding my eyes. I was about to open my mouth to ask if I could get her a heating pad when Emily interrupted me.

"What movie should we watch?" Emily asked, giving me a warning look. "Claire, why don't you pick one."

After looking over at the DVD collection, Claire asked hopefully, "Can we watch _A Walk in the Clouds_?"

I groaned inwardly. The movie came out years ago. I had always avoided watching it because I thought it was too much of a "chick flick." Emily readily agreed to Claire's suggestion and I slouched down and tried to make myself comfortable as Keanu Reeve's robotic presence came across the screen.

I sat through the whole movie without making one complaint though. Whenever a lot of kissing came on the screen, I noticed Claire would either sit very still or would look at me without trying to be too obvious. What was going on in her head?

When the movie was over I got up and stretched and made motions to leave for the night. I reached over and cupped Claire's shoulder. She looked up at me and met my eyes directly for the first time in a couple of hours.

"Why don't you and I go for a walk on the beach tomorrow morning before I take you back home?" I offered then cursed myself as I saw Claire stiffen. The beach was the scene of our infamous "talk" last year. I didn't want to remind her of it.

Instead of saying no though, Claire said, "Okay."

"Alright, I'll see you then." And with that I left the house and went back home.

The next morning, I hurried back to Sam and Emily's place and knocked on the door once before entering the house. Claire was just coming down the hall to answer the door when she saw it was me and stopped.

"Hey Claire, you ready to go?" I asked.

"Sure," Claire responded. She turned and hugged Emily, Sam, and Nate goodbye, before grabbing her overnight bag off the floor and following me out the door. I grabbed it from her and put it in the car. We got in and drove down to the beach.

It was a cloudy, but somewhat warm day for late September. I looked out at the ocean and could see people on surf boards and boogie boards, gliding on the waves. The salty breeze hit our faces gently as we walked along the beach.

Claire seemed almost nervous when we first started walking. After a while, she started to relax and began to talk about her classes and her teacher, Mr. Blane, who she called Mr. Bland. She reached out and held my hand as we walked. I felt the warmth of her hand clasped in mine and felt truly content for the first time in a long time. I heard a scream and looked over to the water.

I saw a woman boogie boarder wave frantically before she went under the surface of the ocean. I didn't even hesitate. I ripped off my shirt and ran into the water and dove under the waves.

As soon as I swam out a little, I slid my shorts off and held them in my teeth and phased. I could see better under water when I was in wolf form. A few seconds later I could see someone thrashing in the distance. As soon as I got close enough, I phased back and quickly pulled on my shorts and grabbed her arm.

As soon as I had her, I pushed up to the surface. Pulling her against me, I made my way back to the shore. She was obviously terrified because I could see her clearly as I laid her on the sand. She started to shake horribly as she stared at me with frightened eyes.

"You ok?" I asked, holding her hands together and rubbing them with mine.

"I think so. A wave hit me and I lost my board. My leg cramped up and I couldn't swim." She told me through chattering teeth.

"Quil, is she alright?" Claire asked as she joined us. A couple of the woman's friends also came running over.

"Yeah, I think she's fine." I told the group. I felt the woman's trembling hands on both my cheeks and turned to look back at her.

"How can I thank you enough?" she asked and as I stared back, she went from being in focus to blurry again a second before she kissed me. I was so surprised that I didn't break away for a few seconds until I heard one of her friends' whistle.

"Typical Abby. She's okay everyone. Let's hit the waves again," someone said. I jerked back. Abby was starting to take on a reddish gleam and I knew that the imprint magic was warning me to back away. Speaking of which, I looked over at Claire.

Claire was a few feet away from me standing so straight that she reminded me of wooden board. There was an odd mix of emotion displayed on her face. I could definitely read disgust, but there also seemed to be curiosity and something else. It was the something else that made me jump back away from Abby quickly. Claire walked over to me and handed me my shirt.

"Quil, can we go now?" Claire asked as I put the shirt on. As soon as I was done, she grabbed my hand quickly. I could have sworn I saw her give Abby a dirty look, but I couldn't be too sure. I saw Abby glancing from Claire to me curiously. I could just imagine what she was thinking.

"Sure kiddo," I replied to Claire's question, ruffling her head affectionately with the hand that wasn't holding hers. I saw Abby's shoulders relax. Claire's seemed to stiffen angrily. Women! You can't win for trying. We made our way to my car and headed back to Makah. Claire held my hand the entire drive back and we chatted freely just like we used to.

I remembered thinking before there was something different about Claire that I couldn't put my finger on. Now, I knew what it was. I didn't know if it was because she had finally received the "P" or something else, but there was a new maturity about her. Claire was growing up.

It was funny. I didn't know if that made me feel happy or sad.

_**A/N – Thank you to everyone who left me a review for the last chapter. The more feedback I get, the more motivated I am to write, so I appreciate everyone who leaves a comment. As always, **__**please review.**_


	11. Flirtatious Ways

**Chapter 11 – Flirtatious Ways**

Quil's POV

Teenagers are weird. They're secretive, brooding, moody, and nervous. Thank God I never acted like that when I was a teen. And teenagers have the most incredible mood swings. I discovered that Claire could go from laughing and carefree to angry and embarrassed all in the space of a second. And _everything_ embarrassed Claire.

For example, a few months ago, I had taken my imprint down to La Push for the week. It had been her winter break from school. She was a freshman now in high school. You'd have thought that she would have wanted to spend her time off hanging out with her friends. Nope, she had decided that she wanted to spend the week at Sam and Emily's instead. The day I had gone to pick her up, we had laughed and joked the entire time we were driving back to La Push. When we got to Forks, Claire had asked if we could stop by the drug store because she had wanted to get a magazine.

Sure, no problem, right? Much to Claire's horror, she had realized that she'd forgotten her money at home. I had offered to buy her purchases for her. She had immediately said no at the same time that I had glanced into the shopping basket she was carrying. Under the magazine, I saw that she had grabbed some "feminine products." Claire's face had gotten redder and redder. I had felt so horrified myself that I threw my credit card at her and quickly ran out of the store. The rest of the car ride to Emily's had been uncomfortable to say the least.

Claire had also become a baffling enigma. When she wasn't crying and getting sappy over some stupid commercial, she would laugh at everything I said and would toss her hair a lot. I didn't get it. Some of the things I said weren't even that funny, but she would laugh anyway. And she was always touching me. One day she was running her fingers up and down my arm while we were watching TV together, and she had said something that had made my heart drop.

"You're skin is always so hot. It's been like that for as long as I can remember." Claire had remarked, her fingers making circular patterns on my skin.

As I wasn't about to unload the full story on her as to the exact reason why my skin felt so hot, and I was unable to lie to her, I told her what I liked to call "evasive" truth.

"Yeah, it's genetics; there are a few of us who are Quileute that run naturally high temperatures," I had told her before adding, "Hey, do you need anything from the store? Tampons or anything?"

It had been a dirty move, but it made her stop asking questions I wasn't ready to answer. She had turned a bright red color and stopped touching me before replying stiffly that she was all set. I had been even more embarrassed than she'd been. I hated thinking of the "T" word almost as much as I hated thinking of the "P" word.

The constant touching wasn't the only way she acted differently towards me. She called me everyday and would tell me all about school and the dramas that accompanied teenage life. Things like, her friend Ashley getting a big pimple right before the Winter Formal dance, or her friend Amber breaking up with her long-term boyfriend. Claire had even reluctantly admitted that her best friend, Lindsey, had a crush on me.

"Do you think she's pretty, Quil?" Claire had asked somewhat forlornly.

"She's not as pretty as you," I had replied instantly.

"But would you ever date her?" Claire had pushed.

"Honey, I can assure you, I'm not interested in dating a 14-year-old." I had informed her.

Silence had greeted that response before Claire changed the subject and started talking about something else. Claire never mentioned any guys she was interested in herself. I often wondered why. Was she too embarrassed to talk about guys with me?

When our conversations weren't revolving around her teenage world, she was always asking me about me…well me and my pack brothers. She'd ask things like, how were things going at the garage; how was Embry, cause he always seemed so sad to her; how were Rachel and Paul now that they had two healthy sons running around.

Claire had also begun to walk differently. Every time I was around her, she always seemed to have a little more sway in her hips. And she kept blinking her eyes at me. A lot. It finally got to the point where I was worried that maybe she had an eye stigma and I needed to take her to the doctor's.

"Claire, is there something wrong with your eyes?" I had asked her one day. She had blushed and said no, but after that, she didn't seem to have a blinking problem anymore.

And the magazines she had started to read! Every time I saw her, she was pouring over magazine like _Marie Claire _or _Cosmopolitan._ The covers always had headlines like "How to Tell if He's Into You" or "Is He the One?" Once while I was up at Makah with Sam and Emily and their kids to help celebrate Cora's 16th birthday, I glimpsed at the magazine Claire had been currently reading and went ballistic. "Top 10 Ways to Pleasure Your Man." What the hell!

"Claire, aren't you a little young to be reading about stuff like that." I had asked.

Claire, being Claire, turned a violent shade of red and mumbled no, before snatching the magazine out of my view and heading to her room. I had gone into the kitchen and complained to Stacy, who had laughed at me and told me she had read the same things when she was Claire's age. Emily and Cora had been equally unresponsive. When I expressed my concern to Sam, he had rolled his eyes and had told me to stop being a jackass and "let the kid read what she wants." Since I had seemed to be the only one concerned about today's media corrupting innocent minds, I bore my concern in silence after that.

When spring came along, Claire had decided to spend her spring break from school at La Push again. I took the week off from the garage and spent every moment possible with Claire. We went to the movies or we watched DVDs at Sam and Emily's. I took her shopping one day in Seattle. I had no clue where she got her energy from, but Claire could shop nonstop. Even with my strength thanks to my wolf genes, at the end of the day I had been ready to drop, while Claire had looked like she could go for another 10 hours.

I hadn't minded though, because I got to be with Claire. She even spent one day of her vacation helping me paint my living room. I didn't think she'd want to, but she had eagerly said she didn't mind.

So here we were. It was the end of her spring break. We had decided to take it easy and spend her last evening watching a movie with Emily. Sam and some of the others were out patrolling. He had given me the night off. Claire and I were sitting on Sam and Emily's front porch steps watching the sunset before we were going to watch the movie.

"Quil, I'm so happy when I'm here. I love being at La Push. I love being with you," Claire told me, not meeting my eyes as she turned a delicate shade of pink.

"Thanks kid, I love having you here, too," I told her earnestly.

"Quil, I'm not a kid anymore," Claire replied, looking disgruntled.

Was it my imagination, or did she just stick her chest out? I couldn't help but glance down as the curves that were suddenly prominently in my view. Jeez, it seemed like overnight she had developed breasts.

Stop, what are you looking at! I jerked my head up quickly and looked away, closing my eyes as I did. Maybe I should take a leaf out of Embry's book and find some woman and get laid. Screw it if the woman became smelly and demonic looking. It had been so long…too long.

I suddenly felt a gentle pressure against my lips. My eyes flew open, but all I saw was Claire's face. Claire had moved so that she was standing in front of me. She looked at me for a second and then bent her head to kiss me again.

And for a few brief seconds, I let it happen. It was just a kiss I thought. But it was the sweetest sensation I had ever felt. I heard a buzzing in my ears. Goosebumps broke out all over my body and I wanted to pull her tightly against me. I put my hands on her arms to do precisely that, when I realized there wasn't a buzzing in my ears, but a voice.

The voice was getting louder and louder as the kiss continued. What are you doing, you sick fucking pervert! You're kissing a child! She's not ready for this! _You're_ not ready for this! Stop! Stop! STOP!

I pushed Claire away. She opened her eyes slowly and what her eyes revealed made me almost bring her back in my arms. _Almost._ Her eyes were filled with love, happiness, and desire. She shouldn't have that look on her face. It was too adult. She should be enjoying her youth; not being sucked into my crazy world.

"What the hell are you doing, Claire?" I asked, so angry with myself for letting that kiss happen that I started to tremble.

"I love you Quil." Claire responded simply, reaching for me again. I stopped her with my hands from getting any closer.

My heart broke for her. This wasn't supposed to happen yet. Had I fucked up her life by being near her all the time? She was supposed to be hanging out with her friends, going out on dates, spending time at the mall. She wasn't supposed to want to spend every moment talking to me on the phone or coming down to La Push.

And no matter what happened just now, I still didn't see her in a romantic light. I loved her with all my heart, but I wasn't in love with her. My response to her kiss had just been my body's reaction to a female's touch. It was the first time since I imprinted that I had been that close to someone of the opposite sex without having them turn into a stink bomb. But it wasn't because I had any deeper feelings for Claire other than that of a best friend.

"Claire, you're a hormonal teen, you don't know what real love is yet." I told her a lot harsher then I intended too.

Claire stepped away from me looking horrified and embarrassed. Tears welled up in her eyes as she stared at me. As long as I lived, I didn't think I'd ever forget the expression on her face in that moment. I literally saw the happiness and love on her face drain away. It was replaced by mortification and a bitterness that I didn't think Claire was capable of. She ran by me into the house. I heard her storm up the stairs and slam the guest room door.

Shit. I handled that brilliantly. I got up slowly and took a deep breath. I turned and went back into the house and started to make my way towards the stairs. Emily came running out of the kitchen area.

"What happened?" Emily asked.

"Claire kissed me." I told her, looking over at the stairs.

"Oh…"

"Yeah…oh." I replied. I could hear Claire crying upstairs and I felt like my heart was bleeding. I lost focus as I welcomed the pain that shot over me. I deserved it.

"What did you do?" Emily asked.

"I told her she was a hormonal teen." I said, only half aware of what I was saying.

"Oh Quil…" Emily responded, "But isn't this what you want? To have Claire interested in you romantically."

"No, I want her to be a teenager. She doesn't need to be weighed down with my problems."

"So you're not in love with her just yet?"

"No, so you don't have to worry about me running off with your barely teenage niece."

"Quil, I didn't mean--"

"Look, I don't see her in any romantic way. I sometimes worry about it even. I've tried over and over again to picture myself marrying her someday, but the idea of it makes me feel like a pedophile. I can't see her that way. I don't even want to. It makes me feel…I don't know, dirty, if I try. I only see her as a kid still. She--"

I stopped speaking as I took in the look of horror that suddenly appeared on Emily's face. She wasn't looking at me; she was looking at something behind me. I froze for a second before slowly turning around with dread. Standing at the end of the stairs was Claire.

From the expression on her face she had heard every word I had just said. The look of devastation on her face almost crippled me. I reached out a hand to go to her, but she ran back up the stairs and slammed the bathroom door. I raced after her and tried to open the door but she had locked it.

I could hear quiet sobbing and each sound tore at my heart. What had I just done? She sounded heartbroken. How could I do that to her, when all I've ever wanted to do is protect and cherish her, her whole life.

"Claire, please open up," I begged. When that didn't work, I put my forehead against the door. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

She didn't respond, she only cried harder. I slid down the hallway wall and sat with my head on my knees as I listened to her cry. It was my penance for hurting her. God, she sounded like I had destroyed her.

"Quil, why don't you go downstairs for awhile," I felt a sympathetic squeeze on my shoulder and looked up to see Emily's sad eyes staring at me.

"I need to be here for her."

"Quil," Emily said, though not unkindly, "I think you've done enough for today, okay?"

When I still didn't budge, she sighed, "Let me see if she'll talk to me. Wait for us downstairs…please Quil."

I nodded and got up slowly. As I made my way down the stairs, I felt shooting pain in every step I took. It was unbearable. Her pain was my pain. I should be in there with Claire.

As I got downstairs, I made my way to the couch. Emily had turned on the shower so that I couldn't hear anything that was being said in the bathroom. After 10 minutes, the shower went off and I heard Emily leave the bathroom and come down the stairs. As soon as I saw her, I jumped off of the couch. She looked at me sadly.

"Claire wants to go home right now," Emily informed me and shook her head when I started to pull my car keys out of my pocket. "She doesn't want you to drive her."

I felt like I had been sucker punched. Had I ruined everything so badly between us that she didn't want anything to do with me now? It hurt more than I thought possible that Claire didn't want me to drive her home.

A few minutes later, Claire came down the stairs carrying her bag. I walked over to her to take the bag from her, but she quickly stepped away. She wouldn't look at me. My heart broke all over again when I took in her tear-stained face.

"Claire, I'm so sorry," I whispered to her. She didn't even acknowledge me.

"Aunt Em, can we go?" Claire asked, not looking up from the floor.

"Sure honey," Emily replied, giving me a regretful look as she walked by me. Claire walked out of the house without looking in my direction. A minute later I heard the car start up, and then they were gone. I couldn't move from my spot. I felt frozen.

What had I done?

_A/N – I love getting feedback so please make sure you leave a comment. Review, review, review._


	12. Imprint Problems

**Chapter 12 – Imprint Problems**

"I'm leaving."

I glanced up from the order sheet I'd been looking at to view Embry standing in front of me.

"What?" I asked. I had to really focus on Embry. It wasn't easy. Ever since Claire and I had been having issues, it was hard to focus on anything.

He looked awful. In fact, I hadn't seen Embry look this bad since he first imprinted. A couple of months ago, Rebecca had come back for a few weeks to visit. Embry had been so ecstatic the entire time she had been here except for when Ian had shown up for a couple of days. Even after Rebecca had gone home, Embry had finally seemed a little bit more content with his life. Now he looked like he had just been raked over the pits of Hell.

"I'm leaving," Embry repeated, looking slightly insane.

"What happened?" I questioned, putting aside the clipboard.

"Rachel just told me that Rebecca and her husband are expecting their first baby."

I sucked in my breath. Having major problems with my own imprint right now, I could definitely sympathize. But this was something so much worse than I ever had to deal with.

"What are you going to do, Embry?" I asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. He looked tortured.

"I'm going to leave La Push for awhile. I just can't take it anymore. Every time I see Paul and Rachel…Rachel reminds of Rebecca. I can't handle it. I thought when she was here last…I thought there was hope…and I…I just can't be here anymore," Embry finally got out desperately and I saw the tears in his eyes.

"How long will you be gone," I wondered feeling sick for him.

"Not sure. A few weeks…years, maybe. I just can't live my life this way anymore. I keep hoping that every time she comes back things will be different. There's no reason to hope anymore. She's got her life and I've got to get mine."

I nodded, "I'll take care of the garage, maybe see if Seth wants to join our partnership. Will you at least let me know when you get settled somewhere?"

"Yeah," Embry said. I leaned in and gave him a quick comforting hug and then he turned and left.

Although I felt Embry's pain as though it were my own, I couldn't help but let my mind drift to my own problems. I squeezed the bridge of my nose to try to relieve the tension. I had a nagging pain through my whole body. It was like a dull headache that was always there. It had been like this for seven months; ever since Claire had kissed me.

Things had gone from bad to worse between us during that time. Ever since Claire had overheard me telling Emily that I wasn't romantically interested in her, Claire no longer attempted to flirt with me. She didn't even acknowledge me if she could help it. We didn't talk on the phone anymore, and she never came to La Push unless she had to.

I still went up to Makah on occasion to watch football or baseball games on TV with Ronnie. Sometimes if Claire didn't know in advance that I would be there, I would occasionally see her rush by whatever room I was in before she would leave.

If she knew I'd be there though, she was never there. It was so incredibly painful to be ignored by her that I would have preferred to not go up to Makah at all. But it would have been too weird if I suddenly stopped having contact with the family after all these years, so I continued to go up there and suffered in silence.

Ronnie and Stacy of course noticed the tension between me and Claire, but Emily had explained to them that Claire had had a crush on me and I had told her I wasn't able to return her feelings. While they sympathized with their daughter, they had told me they didn't hold Claire's "little schoolgirl crush" against me, and because I was just as much a part of their family now as Sam was, I was welcome at their house anytime.

Still the pain I felt was unreal. I knew it wasn't just from not having contact with Claire. I felt pain, because Claire seemed to be constantly hurting. We were two halves of a whole. You cut one, the other bleeds too. Although Claire hid her pain behind a brand new attitude.

Claire had gone from a moody teen, to an angry, rebellious 15-year-old overnight. She stopped hanging around her friends Lindsey, Ashley, and Amber, and had started to hang out with a couple of new girls, Nicollette and Nikky. Cora had mockingly told me to just call them "the Niks."

Once she had started to hang out with the Niks, Claire went from normal teen to "goth girl"…another term Cora had had to explain to me. Claire had dyed her beautiful brown hair a hideous, unnatural black. She also started wearing all black clothes, black eyeshadow and eyeliner, and black nail polish. The only thing that she would wear that wasn't black was her dark cherry colored lipstick.

She had also started off her sophomore year by skipping school a lot. She had gotten suspended for a day in her first week because she had been caught smoking in the high school parking lot instead of attending class. Cora had also mentioned to me that the "Niks" weren't known at school for just smoking cigarettes.

Another problem was Claire wasn't doing her homework and was failing most of her classes. Claire had started behaving this way after our kiss, and she had barely passed her freshman year. It looked like she wasn't even going to attempt to make it through her sophomore year. Ronnie and Stacy were at their wits end, and as I couldn't get Claire to even talk to me, I wasn't able to talk sense into her either.

It made me feel helpless as I watched Claire continuously spin out of control. While a small part of me was getting frustrated with her behavior, another part of me registered that Claire was acting this way because she was miserable. I felt her pain as though it was something tangible in the air that I was constantly breathing in.

I left the garage and headed towards Makah. Ronnie, Nick, Ronnie's dad Roger, and I were going to spend the day fishing. Sam and his family had decided to spend a family weekend in Seattle, so he wouldn't be joining us. His family weekend also included Ryan. Sam was willing to let Ryan have as much time as he needed with Gracie. His happiness somewhat counterbalanced the misery that Embry and I kept constantly bringing to the pack.

I shifted uncomfortably as I drove to Ronnie's house. I had a really uneasy feeling. I couldn't put my finger on it. I didn't know if it was from worrying about Embry, or if it was my problems with Claire that made me feel this way. I just felt like something was really off.

I pulled into Ronnie's house just as Claire came storming out. Today she was wearing a long sleeve black sweater, a black skirt that went down to her knees, white and black striped tights, and black boots that went up past her ankles. The socks reminded me of some thing that the _Wicked Witch _wore in the _Wizard of Oz_. She froze as she saw me.

"Hey Claire," I told her softly, taking in the sight of her.

"Don't you have a home of your own?" Claire said, her eyes glinting angrily at me beneath her black eye makeup.

"Claire, I want you home by 8 pm." Stacy shouted as she came to the front door.

"Whatever," Claire replied, before storming off towards the beach.

I heard Stacy sigh, but I couldn't turn my head to look in her direction, because I was too busy watching my imprint walk away from me. At least Claire spoke to me today.

"Sometimes I feel like an alien abducted my daughter." Stacy muttered.

I turned my head to look at Stacy then. She looked tired. The fact that I could see her clearly showed how truly worried she was for Claire.

"I'm sorry. This is my fault, I should have let her down easier," I told her miserably.

"Quil, we don't blame you. It's just her age. Besides, Claire should be interested in guys her own age. She'll get over it. She can't have everything she wants." Stacy assured me.

But that was the thing. I wanted to give her everything she wanted. I wanted to give her every possible wish and desire she might have. Why couldn't I have given her the one thing she really wanted? Me. Not that she wanted me anymore. I sucked in a quick breath as sharp pain lanced over me again at that thought.

I walked into the house and was greeted by Ronnie. Roger and Nick were in the family room waiting for me. We soon hopped in Ronnie's truck and headed towards a river that locals liked to fish in. I tried to relax and enjoy spending time with Claire's family, but that uneasy feeling kept nagging at me.

Finally around 8:30 pm, we decided to call it a day. We headed back to the Makah reservation and pulled into Ronnie's house, after dropping Roger off at his home. I walked into the house and saw Stacy come up to Ronnie angrily.

"Claire's still not back."

"I've had it with her attitude, this is the third time she's done this, this week. The other night she didn't come home until 2 am and that was on a school night!" Ronnie bristled. He abruptly turned to me. "Quil, I was going to ask you to stay for supper, but I think it would be best if we spoke to our daughter alone when she got home."

I nodded slowly. "Can you do me a favor and call me when she gets home? I'd feel a lot better knowing she's safe."

"Of course," Ronnie assured me, giving me a measured look.

I turned and walked out of the house. I felt shocks of pain as I walked away. On one hand, I didn't want to leave until I saw Claire with my own eyes. On the other hand, it sounded like this was a common occurrence with Claire anymore. Besides, I had some thinking to do, and I was hoping that the drive would clear my head.

My mind was worried with thoughts of Claire as I drove. If I could give her one wish, it would be that I could fall in love with her. Why the hell couldn't I? What was so wrong with it…well, besides the fact that she was only 15 and my birth certificate said I was 29? If we were meant to be together though, why couldn't I start to see her in a romantic way? Was there something wrong with me? As I drove, I made a sudden detour and headed to Port Angeles. I needed to talk to an Elder.

I pulled into the retirement complex and made my way to the correct apartment. I knocked on the door once. My grandfather opened it with a look of surprise on his face.

"Quil, what are you doing here?" Quil Sr. said.

"I need to know if something is wrong with me," I told him. Fear was making my heart race. That uneasy feeling hit me again.

"Wrong with you?" My grandfather repeated.

"Why aren't I in love with my imprint? She said she loved me, but I can't see her that way. Is there something wrong with my imprint connection? I want to give her what she wants and love her so bad Grandpa, but it's like my brain is blocked or something."

I felt like I was having a serious crisis, so it came to a surprise when my grandfather started to laugh.

"You always worry too much Quil. You get that from your mother's side, by the way." My grandpa chuckled again.

"I'm glad you think this is funny," I said bitterly. My life felt like it was ruined and he was making jokes.

"Ah, come on. Sit down and watch _Golden Girls_ with me and I'll explain. They're having a marathon on TV." My grandfather said, welcoming me into his living room. He sat down in his favorite armchair. I sat down on the couch.

"Let me ask you, when Claire was younger, did you want to be her best friend, or were your feelings more brotherly?"

"Brotherly," I responded automatically.

"Did you ever think at that time that someday your little girl would grow up to be your best friend?"

"Not really. I never pictured it."

"That's the point I'm trying to make Quil. You can't just rush your imprint magic or force it to do what you want it to do. I know it's a bit cliché, but think of your imprinting as an onion. You've peeled off the brotherly layer and now you're at the best friend layer. When the time is right, then the current layer will peel off too. You'll suddenly look at her and realize you're in love with her. That's what happened to your ancestor who imprinted on a five-year-old. Or maybe it'll hit you slower, maybe the layer will start to ebb away and before you know, you've fallen head over heels in love with her. But don't try to force it to happen. That'll just make you miserable. The magic won't allow you to anyway. I can assure you though; there is nothing wrong with you or your feelings towards your imprint."

"So the magic's stopping me from seeing Claire as a woman?" I said slowly and my grandfather nodded. "Why didn't you tell me all this before?"

"You never asked," My grandpa seemed surprised that I had even asked the question.

"How long will it take for my feelings to change?"

"Well, considering everything you've told me, Claire's feelings are already changing towards you…I'd say another year or two and you'll start reciprocating hers."

"Do you think I should just tell her the truth?" I asked.

"That depends on you Quil. Do you think she'll be able to handle it?"

I slowly shook my head. Whether she could handle it or not, I wasn't ready. Claire needed to worry about boys and going to the mall and hanging out with friends. I wasn't going to take that part of her teen years away. She deserved better than that. I looked at my grandfather.

"Claire was flirting with me for a long time and I never realized it. Looking back at it now, I should have known. Was it because of the imprint magic? Was it blocking me from seeing what she was doing?"

"Either that or you're clueless," my grandfather snorted. Seeing my worried expression, he said with an exasperated sigh, "Of course it was because of the imprint magic. She's your best friend, that's the only way you see her. Any attempts on her part would have been filtered out."

I nodded and slowly stood up. I went and hugged my grandfather and then left him to watch his TV marathon. I got into my car at the same time my cell phone started to ring. Looking down at the caller ID, I began to shake and quickly answered the phone. I had a feeling this call would explain why I had felt uneasy all day.

I spoke into the phone and listened to what the person was telling me, my heart racing. Fury coursed through my veins. I quickly hung up the phone and put my head against the steering wheel before taking a deep breath. I needed to remain calm and keep focused. I would be useless if I didn't stay in control. I was needed like I had never been needed before.

Because Claire had run away from home.

_A/N – As some of you may know, I love getting comments. So here's the deal…if I get a certain amount of comments than I will post the next chapter tomorrow. As an extra incentive, I'll give you a spoiler. The next chapter is going to be the first chapter I've done in Claire's perspective._


	13. Claire's Story

_A/N –Thanks to everyone who reviewed my last chapter. I didn't quite reach my goal, but I still heard from people and that make's me happy. I thought I'd take a moment to answer some reviews. I'm going to be writing the next two chapters from Claire's POV. After that, it's back to Quil's. I'll probably do Claire's perspective here and there in future chapters, but a majority of the story will continue in Quil's POV. _

**Chapter 13 – Claire's Story**

Claire's POV

The very first memory that I had was of Quil. I remember being trapped under a wave of water. I remembered the fear I felt; the terror when I couldn't see the light, or when I couldn't take a breath. And then I felt Quil's warm arms around me, protecting me. I couldn't remember a time when Quil wasn't in my life.

He was like a brother to me when I was little. I had loved him like I love Cora and Nick. But unlike with my siblings, I had always wanted to spend every moment with Quil. I used to cry myself to sleep at night because I would miss Quil so much. Sometimes, when I couldn't sleep, I would look out my bedroom window and would see the "reservation wolf" hiding in the woods. I had nicknamed him Barnaby. And I always felt better knowing that when Quil wasn't there, Barnaby was.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped looking at Quil as my brother and began to look at him as my friend. I would talk to him every few nights on the phone. He must have been bored listening to my petty elementary school dramas, but he never complained and always seemed as eager to talk to me as I was to him. When I didn't talk to him or see him, I would get this anxious feeling. He became a security blanket to me. I needed to have him around all the time.

The very sound of his voice soothed and comforted me. I remember when my family took a trip to Florida. We had gone for two weeks and no matter how much fun I had, I still longed to see Quil. My parents had only let me talk to him one time, and then they tried to keep me busy for the rest of the vacation so that I wouldn't mope for him. I had overheard my parents say one night while we were on our trip, that it was unhealthy for me to be so obsessed with "poor" Quil at my age. When the vacation finally ended and I got to see Quil again, it wasn't until that moment that I felt like I was truly home.

And then my feelings for him started to change again. The first time I noticed him as a man, I think I was almost 12-years-old. Cora had been given sex education at school and had given me all the gooey details about it. I had thought I knew something about boys, because I had kissed my 6th grade boyfriend before the end of the school year. I realized after my talk with Cora, that I didn't know anything. Hearing the details of sex freaked me out. I couldn't think why anyone would want to do _that_.

And that was when Cora said she would bet money that Quil had "done it" before. I hadn't believed her…Quil, my Quil…would never do something so…adult. So the next time I saw him, I had feigned in interest in sex and asked him about it. I didn't think that he would admit the truth, which was that he had in fact had sex before. It was such an adult thing to do and that was when I realized for the first time that Quil _was_ an adult. More importantly, Quil was a man.

I didn't know how to act around him after that. Why would a man want to be best friends with a silly little girl like me? I didn't know what to say to him anymore. I became shy and unsure of myself, when I had never acted that way around Quil before in my entire life. And worst of all, it really bugged me that he had done that with some faceless girl. I never knew why it irritated me so bad; all I knew was that I didn't like it.

Then when I was 13, I witnessed Quil save a woman from drowning. She had thanked him by kissing him, and I had wanted to rip her hair out. More importantly, I realized that I wanted to be the one kissing Quil. I had quickly grabbed his hand and had given the woman my best "back off, he's mine" look. And to my humiliation, Quil ruffled my hair and called me "kiddo" in front of my competition.

After that, I did everything that I possibly could to learn about the opposite sex. I started reading every article I could find that discussed sex and how to attract guys. I started experimenting more with makeup and started wearing form fitting clothes. I would practice different poses and different walks for hours at a time; all in the hopes of attracting Quil. Not that he ever noticed.

I would even spend time at school writing out questions that I wanted to ask Quil on the phone. I'd call him every night. I'd make sure to ask him about the different things going on in his life, because that's what the magazines said to do…to get a man to talk about himself, because that's what they like.

When my parents had received the phone bill the first time, they had threatened to take my cell phone away. I had had to do extra chores around the house so that I could work off my bill. But I begged them to not take away my phone. It had become a lifeline to Quil.

All my life it seemed that I needed to be with Quil, but suddenly after I turned 14, it was like my whole world started to revolve around him. I had fallen in love with him and he, to my dismay, still called me kiddo.

I didn't let it discourage me though. I would hang on to his every word, and if I could get away with grabbing his arm or holding his hand, I would do it. My sister had guessed my sudden new interest in Quil and had told me to not embarrass him with my feelings. My mom had told me how she used to have a crush on her high school English teacher, which grossed me out. She said it was harmless to have a crush on an older guy as long as I didn't pester him about it. My best friend Lindsey was no help either. She kept telling me how cute she thought Quil was, and it would take everything I possessed to not punch her in the face.

And then finally my spring break arrived, and I was given the opportunity to stay at the one place in the whole world I wanted to be at. La Push with Quil. I had packed all my clothes with extra care that week. I had spent hours doing my hair in different hair styles to try to appear more sophisticated.

We had a blast the entire week I was there, painting his living room, going shopping, and watching movies together. Quil had acted like the best friend he was to me, asking about boys I might be interested in and asking about school. I convinced myself that his interest in discussing guys I might like stemmed from a jealous streak, and that Quil was secretly feeling possessive of me. I convinced myself that he cared that much. It took me all week to work up the nerve to tell him how I felt.

We had spent my last day of my break sitting on my Aunt Emily's front porch steps. The sun had been setting, creating an incredibly romantic atmosphere. And then Quil ruined the mood by calling me "kid." I told him I wasn't a kid and had arched my back in a way that I had practiced, so that my breasts would stick out a little. I thought I saw him glance down at them before he had shut his eyes.

He had looked so beautiful with the last of the day's sun illuminating his face. He had taken my breath away. I had moved so that I was standing in front of him, and I'd bent my head to kiss his lips. I had wanted to kiss him the way I had seen that woman kiss him on the beach. I wanted to make sure that my kiss was better than any woman's kiss he had ever had before.

His eyes had flown up the second after my lips had glanced off of his. He had looked at me with what I thought was wonder. I didn't give him a chance to think to deeply about it. I bent down and had kissed him again, and for the tiniest second I thought I felt his lips part and mold against mine. The friction that was created between our lips had been enough to make me want to fall to my knees. It was like my body had suddenly woken up from a long sleep. And then it was over.

Quil had pushed me away and had asked me what the hell I was doing. I had stupidly told him I loved him and he rejected me. It had hurt and I had run from him, going into the house and into the upstairs guest room. When I calmed down enough, I had realized that I had been wrong to do that to Quil. He was a sophisticated man and I was only 14. If Charlie Swan had driven by at that moment, he could have hauled Quil to jail. I had gone down to apologize to him, and that was when I heard what Quil said to my Aunt Emily.

He couldn't see me in a romantic way, he had told my aunt. He had even tried and he couldn't see it. I made him feel like a pedophile. I made him feel dirty. Every word had cut deep into my heart. It was one thing to realize that maybe he was uncomfortable that I had kissed him because I was too young for him. But to find out that I made him feel dirty had broken my heart.

I had run back up the stairs and went into the bathroom, where I cried until I thought I was going to throw up. I'd heard Quil calling me through the door, but I couldn't talk to him. I had been humiliated. Shame and self-disgust had overwhelmed me in that moment. If I never saw Quil Ateara again, I would have been okay with that. I ignored the little inner voice that told me I was a liar.

Aunt Emily had knocked on the door. I had let her in and she went over and turned on the shower. I didn't even question why she would do that. She sat on the floor next to where I was sitting and cradled me against her. She then told me that everything would be okay; that everything would work out someday. She had told me over and over that Quil loved me in his way and that someday he would see what a beautiful girl I was. I didn't want to hear her. I just wanted to go home. I begged her to take me home and she had agreed.

When I finally made my way downstairs, I didn't even want to acknowledge Quil. He looked tortured, but I hadn't cared. I hated him in that moment. He had embarrassed me. He had said I made him feel dirty. I left without a word to him and cried the whole way home.

When Aunt Emily and I had arrived back home, I didn't even say hello to my parents. I had gone straight into my room and had laid on my bed, turning on my side to stare at the wall. Aunt Emily must have told my parents what had happened, because my mother had come in later and told me that I'd get over my pain; that it was called a "crush" for a reason. She had left after a while and I had continued to stare at the wall. I had wanted to cry so badly, but I had felt too empty inside. Later that night, I thought I had heard a wolf cry, but even thinking about my old friend Barnaby had given me zero comfort.

I didn't know why it had affected me so badly, but I felt dead inside. I mean, people get their hearts broken everyday. Why should I take it so bad? I had stopped caring about everything. I had stopped hanging out with my friends. I got rid of every bright piece of clothing that I had and went shopping at some thrift shops for anything black. Black matched my mood perfectly. I even dyed my hair black and started wearing all black makeup.

I didn't bother with school anymore. I hated even attending it. It was stupid and mindless. Lindsey had tried talking to me on several occasions about my sudden change in behavior, but I had blown her off. She had had a crush on Quil too. Maybe if she made a pass at him, he wouldn't say her kisses made him feel dirty. The idea of that made me hate her almost as much as I hated Quil. I started hanging out with Nikky and Nic instead. They thought school was as useless as I did.

Better yet, they had reputations. They were the kind of people parents didn't want their kids to hang around. They smoked pot, and they were always getting kicked out of school. My parents and sister had tried to talk to me about staying away from them, but that only made me hang out with them more. I was miserable and I wanted every single person who loved and cared for me to be miserable too. Especially Quil.

Quil was always around no matter how hard I tried to avoid him. I never phoned him anymore. He had tried to phone me a few times after the kiss had happened, but I hadn't wanted to talk to him. I hated when he came to Makah. If I knew he was coming, then I always left the house before he got there.

Sometimes I thought I would go insane if I had to look at his face, looking at me constantly with pity in his eyes. It was really ironic, because I remembered when I was little, it didn't seem like my father had even liked Quil much. Over the years, the two had bonded over the Seahawks and now they were really good friends.

So it was one Saturday morning, while I was thinking obsessive, angry thoughts about Quil, that I was told he was coming up to go fishing with my dad, brother, and Grandpa. Upon learning this news, I quickly got dressed and headed out the door. Unfortunately, I hadn't been quick enough, and Quil pulled up just as I was walking outside. He got out of his car slowly and looked at me sympathetically. He could take his sympathy and shove it!

"Hey Claire," he said. Did he have any idea that just the sound of his voice cut me like a thousand knives?

"Don't you have a home of your own?" I said furiously. Why…why, couldn't he just stop coming here? I cursed myself silently as I felt another sharp pain at the idea of never seeing Quil again.

"Claire, I want you home by 8 pm." My mom yelled through the door.

"Whatever," I replied, before heading towards the beach.

I pulled out a cigarette and lit it as I walked away, hoping that Quil was watching me. I knew that he didn't approve of smoking. I always thought Quil was a bit of a health nut to have all those muscles. Then again, I once saw him eat a whole gallon of ice cream in the matter of minutes, so maybe he wasn't that concerned about healthy living. I turned my head casually to see if Quil was watching, but was disappointed to see that he had already gone in the house. I threw the cigarette in the sand. I didn't really care for smoking anyway and only did it to annoy my parents and Quil.

Apparently he didn't even care enough to follow me out here and make sure I wasn't getting into trouble. The idea that Quil no longer cared for me was enough to make me want to lay down on the beach and cry. Why couldn't I get over him? Why did he have to keep constantly coming back into my life?

Even now, no matter how much I cursed him and told myself I hated him, a part of me was yelling at me to run back into the house and beg him to care about me again. I took a deep breath and pressed my hands against my eyes. Pulling my hands away, I saw my black eye makeup smeared all over my palms.

The problem was that I would never get over Quil if I had to see him all the time, that was the problem. I needed to get away. My parents didn't understand. My sister and brother didn't understand. No one got it. I was in love with Quil and I would never get over him if I had to continue to see him. I didn't want to live my life longing for someone I couldn't have. I was happy once. I wanted to be happy again.

Calmly, I picked up the phone and called my friend Nic. She answered after the second ring.

"Nic, I've decided I've had enough of my parents' shit," I told her.

I had never told her or Nikky the truth. They knew I was unhappy, but I told them it was because my parents kept trying to enforce rules on me that I didn't want to abide too. It was partially true; my parents kept nagging at me to stop skipping school.

"You think your brother would let me stay with him for a few days?" I asked. Nic's brother lived in Seattle. I had met her brother Dean once. He seemed pretty nice, for a steroid using, body builder.

"Sure, no problem," Nic said. "You want me to come and get you?"

"Yeah, give me an hour and then meet me down by the public beach," I told her.

I hung up the phone and walked back to my house. I found a place to hide as I waited impatiently for Quil and the rest of the guys to leave. As soon as they left, I snuck back into my house. I walked quietly into my room and shut the door softly behind me. I quickly grabbed a duffel bag and threw some clothes into it. I ran to the bathroom and grabbed some essentials from there. I threw everything together and snuck back out of the house. I met Nic with moments to spare.

Nikky was with Nic and she waved at me. Her eyes were a little glassy, but I was relieved to see Nic's were clear. Nic hadn't been driving long, so I didn't know if I wanted to get in the car with her if she was high. We made our way to Seattle with both girls telling me I had done the right thing.

When we got to the apartment, Dean greeted me enthusiastically and told me I could sleep on the couch for as long as I needed. He introduced me to his friend Cal who was also a body builder. Something about the way Cal was looking at me gave me the creeps. Nic and Nikky decided to head back home around 8 pm.

I glanced down at my watch several times after they left. Cal sat down next to me on the couch and started to rub my one shoulder and told me to relax. I shifted away from him, and he shrugged and got up and started lifting weights with Dean. It was almost midnight when I heard a knock on the door. With confusion on his face, I saw Dean make his way to the door and open it.

"I'm here for Claire." A steely voice said and my heart leapt. Quil.

_**A/N –**__** Please review!!**_


	14. Lost & Found

**Chapter 14 – Lost & Found**

Claire's POV

It was almost midnight when I heard a knock on the door. With confusion on his face, I saw Dean make his way to the door and open it.

"I'm here for Claire." A steely voice said and my heart leapt. Quil.

"She's not here," Dean said arrogantly and went to shut the door.

With a loud bang, I saw the door fly back against the wall and Quil force his way into the room. I felt a chill rush down my spine. Never in all my life had I ever seen Quil look so furious. I didn't know he was even capable of looking that way. He looked over at me, and I saw his eyes soften for a second as he took me in, and then they instantly hardened as he looked from Dean to Cal. Cal moved slightly in front of me and Quil's eyes became lethal.

"Claire, get your things, I'm taking you home," Quil ordered in a tone that was not to be argued with. Dean and Cal didn't seem to pick up on it.

"Sorry friend, she's not going anywhere," Dean said, blocking Quil from entering the room any farther. I saw Quil's hands start to tremble, but he didn't look scared. He looked pissed.

"I'm not your friend," Quil said coldly before looking at me again, "Claire, you can either grab the stuff you brought with you, or you can leave without it. It's your choice, but we're leaving in three seconds.

"Maybe you didn't hear me, _friend_," Dean sneered.

He slammed his hand down on Quil's shoulder and tried to push Quil back. Quil didn't move for a second and then before I knew it, Dean was pinned to the wall with Quil's hand around his throat. Cal tried to help his friend and lunged at Quil. With the hand that wasn't holding Dean, Quil reached out and gave Cal what looked like a gentle shove on the shoulder.

Cal went flying back. I heard a sickening crack as he hit the wall with incredible force. He yowled in pain as he moved away from the wall. His arm dangled uselessly.

"I told you, I'm not your friend," Quil said menacingly, turning his attention back to Dean.

He squeezed harder against Dean's throat, causing Dean to turn a terrible purple color. When Dean's eyes started to bulge, Quil released him. Dean collapsed to the floor, looking at Quil with a stunned expression on his face. Quil turned back to me. He wasn't even breathing hard.

In a calm voice he said, "Are you ready?"

In shock, I reached down and grabbed my duffle bag. I realized that I was shaking. I was terrified of what I had just witnessed. I had always known that Quil was strong, but I had never seen him use his strength against someone before. He had just picked off two body builders like they were teensy flies. I also never knew Quil had such a temper.

As I made my way towards him, he reached out for me. I jumped back and saw a flash of pain on his face. We made our way to the car in silence. He quickly rang my parents and let them know that he had found me. I heard him say something about staying in Seattle, but I didn't pay too close attention because nerves were eating away at me. I got in the car and shut the door. Quil made another call and then got into the car with me. He barely acknowledged me.

We pulled out of the apartment complex and started down the road. I kept sending him nervous glances. I almost wished he would speak because I didn't think I could handle the tension anymore. However, when he did decide to finally say something, I wished for the silence again.

"What the hell were you thinking Claire? Do you have any idea how much danger you could have been in? Of the worry you caused everyone? Don't you ever think of anyone but yourself? And those guys! I could smell the drug use on them a mile away!" Quil said in a scathing tone.

"What do you mean you could smell them?" I whispered, shaken by his verbal attack.

Quil's hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. He winced before saying, "Anyone with half a brain could see that they were on something."

I felt tears well in my eyes. I tried to hold them back, but they spilled over anyway. It had been such a horrible day. I regretted running away as soon as I had gotten to Seattle. If I were completely honest with myself, all I had wanted was Quil's attention and now that I had it, I didn't want it anymore. Worst of all, I had finally made Quil hate me. The idea of him truly loathing me was devastating.

Quil sighed and pulled the car over. He reached for me and pulled me against him. He was the reason for all this, for all the pain and terror I had felt, and yet I found my arms wrapping around him as I buried my face into his warm chest.

"I'm sorry if I scared you back there," Quil said in such a gentle manner that it made me cry even harder.

It pained me to think about how lost I had been feeling for the past seven months. And now, being in Quil's arms, breathing in his warm, familiar scent, all the pain ebbed away. It was like I had been lost, and now being with him again, I had found my way back.

I felt Quil kiss the top of my head, then my cheek, and then he buried his face into my neck, and I heard him take a deep breath in. It was like he was breathing in my smell, just as I had his. I froze and felt my heart begin to pound erratically as Quil started to kiss my neck softly, his lips moving up and down the area where my pulse was beating wildly. His arms wrapped around me tighter for a second before he pulled away. He looked at me sadly as he gently pushed a strand of hair back from my face.

"No note to your parents…they discovered your bag and clothes were gone. You could have put yourself into so much danger." Quil said quietly, making me feel worse. He reached out and wiped the tears that had been continuously flowing down my cheek.

"How did you find me?" I whispered. Quil pulled away from me, and I felt the loss of his warmth. He put the car into drive and pulled onto the road again.

I didn't think he was going to answer, but then I thought I heard him say "I'll always find you, Claire," but his voice was too low for me to hear clearly.

Thinking I must have misunderstood him, I repeated, "But how did you find me so quickly?" I persisted. I saw his hands tighten again on the steering wheel and they seemed to slightly tremor. He took a deep breath.

"Let's just say I have a connection," he replied.

I decided not to push any further. I knew that Quil and my Uncle Sam were some type of bodyguards for their reservation. Maybe he did have some type of connection. I wondered briefly who his source could be. We drove to the outskirts of Seattle when Quil pulled over and drove into a hotel parking lot.

"What are we doing here?" I asked, peering up at the hotel building.

"Well, I didn't think it would be a good idea to take you back home right now. By the time we got there it would be 5 am. Your parents probably wouldn't be in the best frame of mind to talk to you."

On second thought, maybe it wasn't a good idea to go home right now. Last time I had done something rebellious and stupid, I had overheard my parents mention something about boarding school to get me away from "bad influences." My stomach knotted at the idea of what I might face when I went home. Still, the idea of sleeping alone in a hotel room with Quil filled me with nerves. Quil got out of the car and looked back at me through the open door.

"Come on Claire, let's go." Quil ordered.

I got out of the car and grabbed my bag. We made our way to the hotel. Instead of stopping by the reservation desk, Quil looked over at a sign on the wall that showed room numbers, and made his way down a hall. I followed nervously behind. He came to room and knocked on the door. My Uncle Sam answered it.

I had completely forgotten that my aunt and uncle had planned a family trip to Seattle this weekend. Uncle Sam looked at me and reached out to hug me close. His tenderness after everything that had happened made me want to cry again.

"You okay?" My uncle asked. I could only nod.

"I was able to get you a hotel room down the hall. Room #223. It's too crowded in this room with the kids and Ryan." Uncle Sam said. Giving Quil a meaningful look that I didn't understand, he added, "Emily said she could use the break, so she'll stay with you."

"Thanks dad," Quil joked, rolling his eyes and taking a key from my uncle's hand.

Uncle Sam hugged me again, before turning back into his room. We made our way down the hall until we found our room. Knocking once on the door, Quil slid the card into the hotel room lock and the lights on the pad blinked green. Quil pushed opened the door and we entered the room. Aunt Emily got up from a chair she had been sitting in and came over and hugged me tightly.

"Don't you ever, _ever _do anything like that again, do you hear me?" My aunt said sternly. I could feel her giving me a kiss on top of my head. I wrapped my arms around her and began to cry again.

"You know, I think I'm going to take a walk," Quil said, leaving us with some privacy.

As soon as Quil left the room, my aunt dragged me over to the bed and we both sat down.

"Alright, let's have it," she ordered.

I stopped crying as I told her everything. How miserable I had been feeling; how much it hurt to be around Quil anymore; how embarrassed I still felt from my pathetic attempts to attract him. I told her in a dead voice how he didn't seem to care about me anymore, and how seeing him hurt so much that I felt my only option was to run away. I also told her how terrifying Quil had been when he attacked Dean and Cal.

My aunt listened with a sympathetic ear. After I was done, she gathered me in her arms and gently rocked me back and forth. Pulling away, she pushed some of my dyed black hair away from my face.

"Next time your feeling depressed or anxious again, I'm just a phone call away, you know that, right?" My aunt asked.

I nodded, but her kindness was my undoing and I started to cry again. I thought I heard her utter something like "men" and she hugged me close again. After I calmed down a little, she grabbed both my hands and turned me so I was looking directly at her scarred beautiful face. She looked like she was about to say something, but then she stopped and looked away from me.

Glancing back at me, Aunt Emily said, "Why don't you go get changed into your pajamas, you've had a long day."

"Okay," I mumbled as I tiredly got up from the bed and grabbed my duffel bag.

I changed into my Tweety Bird tank top with matching pajama bottoms and cringed. If I had known I was going to be spending the night in a hotel with Quil, I would have packed something more sophisticated. I washed my face and brushed my teeth and made my way out of the bathroom.

I went into the sleeping area. My aunt was on one bed reading. I crawled next to her and dove under the sheets. My aunt reached over and drew the sheet over my shoulder. Leaning over, she kissed me on top of my head.

I was just starting to drift off to sleep when I heard my aunt say, "Claire?"

"Hmm," I responded sleepily.

"Don't think that Quil doesn't care about you. He does…more than you know."

It was the last coherent thing I heard before I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. Whispered arguing woke me up hours later.

"…When I know that I'm her choice in life, then I'll tell her. I'm not telling her until then."

"She has chosen you, you idiot!" My aunt snapped. That's what made me wake up a little more as I tried to focus on what was being said. My aunt never lost her temper.

"She hasn't experienced enough of life yet to know for sure. Besides my feelings still haven't altered."

"Are you sure about that?" My aunt replied scathingly.

"Yes," Quil said firmly. "Besides she's not old enough to know…her actions from yesterday proved that." Quil responded.

I must have done something to indicate that I was awake, because they both stopped talking.

"Honey, are you up?" My aunt said.

"Hmm," I replied. I croaked out, "What time is it?"

"Its 7 am, you need to get up so we can get on the road," Quil instructed.

Grumbling, I pushed the sheets back and climbed out of the bed. I heard Quil snort and I turned to look at him.

"Nice pajamas," Quil chuckled, eyeing me up and down. For a second, I thought his eyes lingered on my breasts, but I shook it off as wild imagination.

"Shove it, Quil!" I grumbled and grabbed my bag. After a long, refreshing shower, I changed into some fresh clothes.

"Emily, you want me to turn in the key?" Quil asked.

"No, that's okay. I think I might sleep a little bit longer. Sam and I will take care of it."

"Thanks again," Quil said.

I went over and hugged my aunt and we were off. We drove for about 10 minutes when Quil pulled into a restaurant. We went in and ordered breakfast. I looked at Quil as we waited for our food.

"What were you and my aunt talking about this morning?" I asked.

"Things that are personal," Quil replied and he grimaced as though he were in pain.

"But it involves me?"

Quil looked angrily at me and it reminded me of his explosion last night, "Claire, you have more important things to worry about, like your parents."

"You have secrets?" I persisted, slightly surprised that he was hiding something. I thought we told each other everything.

"Don't we all?" Quil muttered, picking up the dessert menu that was on the table and flipping through it.

The topic was apparently closed…for now. Sighing, I looked out the restaurant window. Our food was soon delivered. A Belgium waffle with strawberries piled on it was placed in front of me, while Quil dug into the omelet he ordered.

While I was eating my waffle, I looked up to find Quil watching me. He had always done that since I was a kid, so it didn't usually bother me, but there was something…different in his look.

"What?" I finally asked as he continued to stare.

"Your beautiful hair…why did you do that to your hair?" Quil asked sadly, reaching over to pull strands of my black hair through his fingers. The tips of his fingers accidentally brushed against my cheek and my heart went into a frenzy.

"It's what teenage girls do, you know?" I replied sarcastically.

"But this," Quil said, moving his head to give me a once over, taking in my black makeup and outfit, "this isn't you, Claire."

"Are you sure?" I asked in a strangled voice.

"Yes…you're angry and upset because you overheard me saying something to your aunt months ago that you didn't like. So you changed your looks and put on a good front about not caring about anything, but I know that's not true. You care too much, that's your problem."

I didn't say anything, but my stomach twisted painfully. Quil always saw through me. I looked down at my breakfast. I didn't think I was going to be able to finish it.

"I love you Claire, I always have and I always will. Maybe it's not the way you wanted, but that doesn't make my feelings towards you any less real."

I froze as I felt a blush enter my cheeks. Please just kill me now. I didn't want to be told over again that Quil wasn't in love with me. He had made that clear months ago. What he said next broke my heart a little.

"I miss you Claire," Quil told me with pleading eyes. "You're my best friend. I don't want to lose you. The world just hasn't seemed right these past months."

I knew what he meant. I guess we both had been feeling lost. Quil slid his hand across the table, palm up.

"Please forgive me for what I said. Please don't throw our friendship away." Quil begged.

As I stared at him, my eyes began to swell with tears. I cursed how emotional I seemed to be lately. Slowly, I placed my hand in his. He squeezed gently and I felt a sense of peace drift over me.

The peaceful feeling lasted all the way until we got back to my house where my parents were waiting for me. My father looked exhausted and angry. My mom's eyes were puffy from crying. I felt guilt wash over me again as I took in their expressions and shame made my face burn red. My parents both hugged Quil, and then he turned to me and I ran and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you Quil," I whispered. I felt him kiss the top of my head and then he was gone.

"Sit down Claire," my father ordered and I sat on the couch. He went into a long speech of how I put myself in danger and how my actions had been reckless and stupid. And then we came to the part I had been dreading.

"Your mother and I are deeply concerned over your behavior. We think it has a lot to do with this new crowd you're running around with. You don't listen to us, you're disrespectful, and you're going to fail out of school at the rate your going. Given all these facts, your mother and I have decided the best thing for you is a change of scenery."

I sat staring at the carpet not moving. This was it. They were going to send me to some boarding school. I'd never get to see Quil again.

"We just got off the phone with your Aunt Emily and Uncle Sam. They've offered to let you live with them while you finish high school. Seeing as you've always loved going to La Push so much, your mother and I have agreed that the best thing for you is to transfer schools and live there."

My head popped up as I stared at them. My heart started to pound frantically. I wasn't going to be sent to boarding school. I was going to La Push. I'd get to see Quil all the time. I didn't know if that would please me or destroy me.

"But let me warn you, Claire. If you pull the same behavior there as you did here; if I find out you were rude to my sister and her family in anyway, we will transfer you again. And the next option won't be nearly as pleasant." My father said sternly.

I nodded stiffly and said in my best angry voice, "Can I go to my room?"

My father's shoulders slumped, "Fine."

I got up quickly and walked into my room and shut the door. Leaning against it, I looked up at the ceiling. A quiet joy spread throughout me.

Still looking up, I whispered, "thank you."

In the distance, I heard a wolf howl.

_A/N - Thank you again to everyone who left me a review on my previous chapter. I received an all time high amount of feedback, which I can't thank you enough for! Special shout out to Medea Smyke for all your recent feedback on my first story "First Imprint (Sam's Story)." Much appreciated!_

_**And don't forget,**__** please review!!!**_


	15. Moving Day

**Chapter 15 – Moving Day**

Quil's POV

"So…how is this punishment again?" Collin asked me.

I sighed. Collin had volunteered to help me move Claire from Makah to La Push. I didn't know how much crap a teenager could have, but Ronnie suggested that I bring Sam's truck and also rent an extra trailer.

Collin continued to speak, "Cause if I had run away when I was her age, my parents would have busted my ass."

"It's not punishment. Her parents have been worried about her destructive behavior over the past half year and decided it would be better for her to have a change of scene," I replied.

"You should have just made out with her when you had the chance," Collin smirked putting his feet up on the dashboard and pushing the seat back so that his long body could fit.

"It's not that easy, she was only 14 at the time," I said in irritation. Collin rolled his eyes. Who was Collin to give advice anyway? He scoffed at anything to do with imprinting.

Sometimes it really sucked that everyone in the pack could read your thoughts. Because of my recent problems with Claire, I could think of little else for the past seven months. As much as I tried to hide it, the entire pack now knew that Claire had kissed me and what my reaction had been.

They had also seen my reaction when I found Claire in the apartment with those two guys. They kept saying things like "Quil you're my hero" and "Quil, you're the wind beneath my wings" when they saw what I had done to the body builders. I had gotten nonstop crap from the entire pack until Sam had ordered them to shut the hell up. It was his niece after all, and he didn't want to know any details of that side of our relationship.

"So have you heard from Embry," Collin asked as we pulled onto the Makah reservation.

"Last I heard, he was working in a garage in Maine," I replied.

Embry had moved as far away from Hawaii and La Push as he could get. Going to the opposite side of the country hadn't helped much. Sometimes when I phased, I could feel Embry's pain inside my head. Because of that, I knew he was still phasing. But as soon as he sensed someone else was with him, he quickly phased back to human form.

We pulled into Ronnie and Stacy's house and got out of the car. I was anxious to see Claire again. It had been a week since she had runaway and I had rescued her. I hadn't seen her since I had dropped her off.

She was now on her Thanksgiving break, and her parents thought it would be best if she started school in La Push after the break was over. The end of November was a weird time for a kid to start a new school, but Ronnie and Stacy wanted her to get away from Makah.

The Niks had apparently come over to the house and had gotten into a big fight with Claire. They had threatened her because I had broken the one body builder's arm when I had thrown him against the wall. I had volunteered to talk to the girls and their parents directly after I had learned of their harassing, but Ronnie said the best thing was to transfer Claire out of the current environment as soon as possible.

The door opened to the house and there she was.

"Hey," Claire said.

"Hey Claire," I responded. "You remember Collin?"

"Yeah, nice to see you again," Claire murmured politely. "Well, let's get this show on the road."

I smiled as I took in Claire's appearance. Today she was wearing a long black skirt that went down to her ankles with black boots. She was also wearing a long sleeved red sweater. I took that as a good sign. Least she wasn't wearing all black anymore. Even her black makeup wasn't as heavy.

We started to load up the truck. Seriously, how can one person have so much crap? We loaded box after box. Some were boxes of clothing, but we also loaded up boxes of books, a book case, CDs, DVDs, a small TV, a DVD player, bedding, a bicycle, and boxes full of mysterious items.

Finally it was time to leave. Stacy had become very emotional and kept hugging her daughter, making her promise to call as soon as we got to Emily's, and she also wanted Claire to call her after her first day of school. Cora and Nick also hugged their sister goodbye. Ronnie picked Claire up in a big bear hug. We were about to leave when someone called out Claire's name.

Turning, I saw Claire's friend Lindsey run up to the house. Apparently the girls had made up their differences over the past week. Hugging Claire tightly, Lindsey sobbed how much she was going to miss her. Pulling back slightly, Claire turned to us.

"Quil, you remember Lindsey," Claire said somewhat stiffly.

"Yeah, hey Lindsey," I replied smiling at her. She smiled flirtatiously back. I almost rolled my eyes. Lindsey had acted this way towards me for years.

"And this is Quil's friend Collin," Claire continued.

It was then that I noticed Collin hadn't moved an inch since Lindsey had appeared. Looking over at him, I swore silently. Dammit to hell, I'd recognize that expression anywhere. Collin had this incredibly stupid look on his face, like he had just won the greatest prize in the world. This was all I needed right now. Collin had just imprinted on Claire's 15-year-old best friend.

Lindsey walked over and shook his hand. Collin looked like he didn't want to ever let her go. Lindsey looked at him inquisitively, turning her head slightly. It was the first time since Lindsey had hit puberty that I hadn't seen her act overly flirty. She acted almost shy in front of him.

I glanced at Claire and saw her eyeing her friend and Collin curiously. I saw Ronnie and Stacy exchange worried glances. Cora rolled her eyes and went back in the house. Nick waved once in the direction of Claire and also went back inside. I went over to Collin and punched him as hard as I could in the arm. I heard something snap and Collin let go of Lindsey's hand immediately. His arm fell limply to his side. I laughed to cover up the awkwardness of the moment. The sound came out somewhat deranged.

"Fucker," I heard Collin say under his breath. I chuckled. He would be fine by the time we got back to La Push.

"Well, kid, you ready to go," I asked Claire. She glared at my use of kid, but turned to give her parents and Lindsey once last hug. I threw my arm around Collin in what looked like a friendly gesture, but shoved him towards the truck.

Claire climbed into the backseat of the truck, and Collin climbed into the passenger seat, not taking his eyes off Lindsey. When Lindsey started to cry even harder as I started the vehicle up, Collin put his hand on the door handle. I quickly threw on the child's lock so he wouldn't be able to get out of the car and comfort her.

"Don't even think about it," I warned him.

Collin turned and glared at me. I wondered briefly if he was going to punch me, but my warning glance over the backseat, reminded him that we had an audience and he needed to watch his behavior. Last thing we needed was a wolf fight in front of Claire.

We pulled out of the driveway, Collin never looking away from Lindsey, and I put the truck in drive and we were off. Collin slouched down in the seat and looked miserable. While I felt for him, I couldn't help but be a little amused about the irony of the situation.

Collin had always been so cynical when it came to imprinting. I remembered he asked Sam about imprinting at Sam's wedding. He had been worried and almost disgusted by it at the time. Now he looked as enamored as the rest of us who had imprinted. Speaking of imprints…

"Hey Claire, I was thinking...I mean you don't have to if you don't want to…but I wondered if you would want to help out at the shop after school." I finally got out. I felt like an idiot; like I was asking her out on a date or something. Collin looked at me and rolled his eyes.

"Sure, okay," Claire responded blandly.

"Claire, what kind of music do you like?" Collin asked suddenly. Claire told him her tastes in music. She was really into indie rock, alternative, and electronic/dance.

"Have you heard of Basement Jaxx? They have a really sick sound." Collin said, pulling out his I-Pod from his pocket. "You wanna listen?"

"Umm…okay," Claire replied taking the I-Pod from Collin. As soon as she was plugged in, Collin turned to me.

"What am I going to do?"

"Well, you could do what I did," I answered, looking in the rearview mirror. I could see Claire's head moving to the music. It made me smile to see her looking so happy. "When I first imprinted, I had to do nightly runs up to Makah every night so that I could be near her. Most of the time I didn't even see her, but I could hear her breathing inside her house. Just hearing her helped me."

"Is it always like this…the pain of being separated?"

"Yes, it's hard to be away for long periods of time, but you learn to deal with the pain after awhile."

"But Lindsey's so beautiful. Her face looks like it was sculpted by angels and even her hair is sexy. I don't think I can live without being with her," Collin said desperately. I started making gagging noises and Collin glared at me. "Shut-up ass!"

"Look, I can guarantee you haven't seen the last of her. She's been best friends with Claire since they were in kindergarten. I bet she'll come down and see Claire. At least you don't have too long to wait for her to grow up." I assured him.

"Three years is too long." Collin whined.

"Least you didn't imprint on her when she was two." I reminded him and saw him glance over at me.

"True," he said, smiling slightly.

We drove the rest of the way in silence, both lost in our own thoughts. I kept looking back at Claire. She had fallen asleep sometime during the drive. I couldn't believe she was here with me and that we were friends again. More importantly, I was moving her to La Push. I'd be able to see her whenever I wanted.

As much as I hated the fact that she had run away and I was to blame for it, I couldn't help but rejoice at the way things turned out. She'd be close by and that was what was most important. Just thinking about how I had found her in an apartment with two drug users was enough to send me into a rage again. I transferred my thoughts to something happier, like the fact that Claire would be helping out in the shop. I'd get even more time with her.

We finally reached La Push and I pulled into Sam's driveway. Collin got out of the car. I unbuckled my seatbelt and turned to wake Claire gently up. She really was becoming more beautiful every day. I felt my breath catch as I watched her slowly open her eyes to blink at me in confusion, and then a soft smile appeared on her face.

"Quil," she sighed. I wanted to hug her close. I was so honored that she was my friend.

"Hey, we're here Claire," I told her softly.

"Oh, okay," Claire replied, straightening up.

She opened the door and was immediately attacked by Gracie. Gracie was now nine and she absolutely adored her older cousin. The girls hugged and then Claire turned to hug Nate. Nate was eleven. He was starting to shoot up at an alarming rate, but as there hadn't been any vampire activity in the area in the past year, Sam was hoping that he wouldn't change anytime soon.

I looked over at Sam and Emily who were now hugging Claire. Sam stood back and glanced over at me and then at Collin and froze. His eyes widened for a minute before he turned to look back at me. I nodded my head once. I knew what he was asking. Ryan, who was also there, looked over at Collin and started to snicker. Sam walked over to me.

"So who's the lucky girl," Sam asked in a quiet voice.

"Claire's best friend, Lindsey," I replied.

"Damn, why can't this pack ever imprint on someone who is at least 18, and who lives on the reservation." Sam muttered, looking back at Collin who was already getting antsy. "Just go Collin."

Collin immediately ran towards the forest. I saw Claire look over to where Collin had just disappeared. I muttered to her something about how Collin had just remembered an errand he had to do. A few seconds later, I felt a shimmer in the air and knew that Collin had phased. He would probably be back at Makah to watch Lindsey in about 20 minutes.

We began to unload the trailer. I carried up box after box and took them to the room that Claire have been given. Finally, the trailer and truck were unpacked. I took the trailer back to the place we had rented it from and made my way back to La Push. By the time I got to Sam's house, dinner was being served.

We all sat around Emily and Sam's kitchen table. They had recently exchanged their smaller table for a long table that sat 10 people. It was still too small when the entire pack came over, but it worked for the quieter times at the house. I sat down next to Claire. Ryan and Gracie sat across from us and Nate sat next to his sister. Sam and Emily sat at the ends. We ate and joked and for the first time in a very long time, I felt relaxed.

After dinner was done, Claire excused herself to go finish unpacking. After a few minutes, I followed her upstairs and knocked on her bedroom door. I heard her call "come in" and I quickly entered. She sat in the middle of her bed, just staring at all the boxes.

"Overwhelmed?" I asked.

Claire laughed, "Yeah, a little bit."

"You want some help unpacking?" I offered.

She looked at me for a minute, "Okay."

We got to work. I set up her bookcase and started to put the books on the shelves. She had the books placed in the box in a certain order. The books were separated by different genres and then were in alphabetical order after that. I smirked as I took in the large set of romance novels she had.

"So are you excited about school?" I asked as we continued to work.

"Not really."

"You'll be fine, you know. Everyone will love you." I assured her.

"I doubt that," Claire said, biting her lip.

"You're very easy to love Claire. You'll be okay, I know it." I told her. She paused for a minute and I saw her glance over at me before she continued to work.

We worked in compatible silence for awhile. I opened up a box and reached in. I felt some kind of cloth and pulled it out. In my hand was a black laced thong. Claire looked over at me and froze.

"Oh," I managed to get out, before I shoved the underwear back in the box. I felt my face turn red. "Maybe you should handle this box."

Claire laughed and came over and grabbed the box out of my hand. She wasn't embarrassed in the least, while I could still feel the mortifying heat in my cheeks. I started to set up her DVD player while she continued to unload her box. As much as I tried not to look, I couldn't help but see some of the things she unpacked. Bright colors of material flashed by as she emptied out the box.

While Clare seemed to favor black for her outerwear, it seemed she still liked bright colors underneath. Except for that black thong. Wasn't she a little too young to wear something like that? I certainly didn't feel comfortable with the idea of her wearing something that provoking. I mean, what if she bent down in the low rise jeans she preferred and someone saw that. The idea of anyone seeing her in her thong was disgruntling. When I realized I was spending way too much time thinking about Claire's choice in undergarments, I forced myself to focus on the task at hand. Within a few minutes, I had the DVD player hooked up to the TV.

"Well, I think I'm finished." Claire said as she emptied out the last box. "Thanks Quil."

Claire came over to me and hugged me. She was wearing a scent that I had only recently begun to associate with her. It was some floral scent. She smelled incredible.

"You're welcome Claire-bear," I told her, kissing her on top of her head.

"Ugh," Claire responded, lightly pushing me in the stomach as she moved away.

She flopped down on her bed and moved her long hair so that it was sprawled above her on the pillow. I went to sit next to her and was going to suggest a movie, when Claire stretched. She arched her back slightly and closed her eyes. I took in the curves that her pose revealed. I turned and quickly left the room.

**A/N **-** Please review!!!**


	16. A Promise

***Chapter 16 – A Promise**

Quil's POV

I was pretty sure we were going to get snow for Christmas Eve.

It felt like snow and it was certainly cold enough—not that I could tell. But enough people who didn't run at a natural 108 degrees body temperature complained that it was freezing outside.

But their moodiness couldn't affect my holiday spirit. I waved off my last customer cheerfully and closed up the garage. Seth had already left for the day. He, Sue, and Charlie were traveling together to Seattle. They were going to spend Christmas Eve with Leah, her husband Dylan, and their daughter and son.

Our full time mechanic, Mike, had asked for the day off. So the only ones currently at the shop were my two pack brothers, Ryan and Azra, and me. Seth and I had decided to hire Azra because he was naturally good with cars. And Ryan had been certified as a mechanic through school.

"All right, I'm out. Have a good Christmas," Azra said before taking off on his motorcycle without a coat.

A motorcycle was impractical to drive in this kind of weather, but Azra didn't care. What was the worse that could happen? Azra was an active wolf. He could slip on some wet pavement, break some bones, and be healed within hours.

"I'm heading out too," Ryan said.

I nodded and he left. I would be seeing him again shortly. We were both going over to Sam's house to celebrate Christmas Eve with our imprints. I was anxious to give Claire her Christmas present.

Much to my sadness, Claire was going to be spending Christmas Day through New Year's Day up in Makah. Emily and Sam were taking her to Ronnie's house the next morning so Emily and Claire could spend the holiday with the Young family. I had gotten so used to seeing my imprint everyday, it was going to be hard to be away from her again.

Claire had adjusted better to life in La Push than anyone could have hoped. She made a couple of friends at school within her first week. She also stopped wearing black clothes and the black hair dye was slowly coming out. Emily had taken Claire shopping the day after she moved to La Push, which happened to be Thanksgiving weekend. Claire had excitedly shown me all the new clothes she'd gotten at bargain prices. She also stopped skipping school and was so far averaging all A's and B's in her classes.

Best yet, she was spending her afternoons with me. When she first moved to the area, I would pick her up from school every few days and then would take her to the garage. She'd help in the office area, answering phones and booking appointments. She was good at the job and customers really enjoyed talking to her.

Originally, she was only supposed to help out on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but on the days I didn't pick her up, she'd ride her bicycle down to the garage and would hang out with me anyway. Sometimes she'd just sit back and watch me work. It always made me feel relaxed and happy to have her nearby.

I finally started to just pick her up after school every day. I always knew when it was time to go get her. I'd start to get this antsy, anxious feeling and would always leave early enough to get to her school on time.

I went home and showered quickly, making sure to scrub off the grease that always accompanied me after a long day of oil changes and car maintenance. After I was done, I went to my closet and debated what to where. I finally chose a burgundy colored button up shirt and some khaki pants. Claire once said she thought burgundy was a nice color on me. I put some gel in my hair and tried to make it look like I had actually made an effort with it. Though why I was trying so hard was beyond me.

Finally satisfied with my appearance, I went into the kitchen and grabbed a small box off the counter. I looked down at the Christmas paper and chuckled. It had Care Bears all over it. I couldn't wait to see Claire's reaction.

Driving with more speed then necessary, I made it to Sam's house in record time. I got out of the car and walked into the house after a quick knock. Gracie came running over to me and hugged me.

"Where's Ryan?" Gracie asked, looking behind me.

"He's on his way, kiddo," I told her, ruffling her hair.

"Quuuuil," Gracie whined, quickly straightening her hair, before going into the front room to look out the window.

I chuckled as I walked into the house some more. The smell of ham cooking tantalized my mouth even before I walked into the kitchen. Entering the room, I could see Emily next to the counter looking at a recipe book.

"Need any help?" I asked.

"Oh, hey Quil. No, just stay out of the way," Emily implored. Nodding, I quickly left the kitchen. Once Emily was in cooking mode, it was best to get out of the way.

I heard someone on the stairs and turned to look. Claire was walking them slowly. She looked…incredible, and a little too grown up for my liking. She was wearing her hair down, the black dye almost gone, though you could still see traces of it in her brown hair. She was also wearing a dark red dress that hugged her hips and flowed down to her knees. There was some type of lace right above her breast line that was tied in a bow. That bow was the only thing preventing the dress from showing too much chest.

"Merry Christmas, Quil," Claire said softly. I couldn't look away.

Finally, I blinked and with a little start said, "Yeah, you too, Claire."

Smiling softly, she glanced behind me and said, "I better see if I can help Aunt Emily. I'll stay away from the cooking, but I can at least set the table."

And with that Claire walked away. I didn't move for a full minute. I could still smell the delicious floral scent she wore, even though she was no longer standing in front of me. I finally snapped out of my daze and went into the living room where Nate and Sam were watching TV.

I heard another knock on the door, followed by Gracie's squeal of delight. Sam made a "hmph" noise at the commotion. Even though Sam knew that Gracie would be protected all her life thanks to Ryan imprinting on her, it was still sometimes hard for him to accept that his nine-year-old daughter had already found her soulmate. Ryan soon entered the room, carrying a large present with him.

"That better not be anything expensive," Sam warned. Ryan turned a funny shade of red, which made me chuckle.

Ryan, Nate, and Gracie were soon playing a game of Clue on the floor while Sam and I watched TV. I saw Sam go stiff and I looked at him curiously. Seeing the frown on his face, I tuned into my senses and could hear Emily and Claire talking in the kitchen. I saw Ryan looking nervously at Sam as we eavesdropped on the women's conversation.

"I can promise you, Claire, your uncle is not cheating on me," Emily said in an exasperated tone.

"But where does he go at night? He's gone all the time. And why are those guys over here all the time."

"Those guys as in Quil?" Emily asked.

"Quil doesn't count, he's my best friend. But what's with Ryan and Gracie. He watches her all the time. It's weird."

"Oh honey, they're best friends…just like you and Quil."

"I guess…I'm just worried about you, Aunt Em. Sometimes I think there's something really strange going on here, but I can't put my finger on it."

"Claire, believe me, everything is perfectly natural for this area."

"And what's with all the howling at night?"

Emily didn't say anything at first. "We have a lot of wolves here. You have wolves in Makah too, you know."

"We have one…the Makah wolf."

There was silence for a few minutes before Emily sighed, and I heard her move to the area Claire was standing in.

"Claire, trust me when I say there is nothing for you to worry about. Your uncle is not cheating on me. I couldn't ask for a more loving and devoted husband than Sam," Emily told her before continuing. "As for the guys being over here all the time, don't you remember that Sam is considered the chief of the tribe? He and those guys are Quileute bodyguards. They patrol the area at night. There is nothing sinister going on, okay?"

"Okay," Claire responded and I heard Emily laugh.

"You're turning into a worrier. I think you've been spending too much time around Quil. You're picking up his habit of worrying about everything."

After a couple of seconds of silence, Claire said, "Aunt Em, I'm sorry for what I accused Uncle Sam of. I know he wouldn't do that to you…he worships you too much."

I saw Sam chuckle at that and relax. I, on the other hand, felt frozen. Claire knew something was going on. Was it time to tell her? She came into the living room at that moment and sat down next to me. She saw my present wrapped in the Care Bear wrapping paper and playfully hit me on the arm. I laughed weakly in response.

No. She didn't need to know yet. Why ruin her now happy mood with something so heavy?

We decided to open up presents before dinner. Emily and Sam gave Claire a big basket of _Enchanted Orchid_ scented lotion and spray from Bath & Body Works. Claire enthusiastically hugged them, her earlier concern with Sam forgotten.

Gracie started screaming when she opened up her present from Ryan. He had given her an iPod with a stereo system included! It was in Gracie's favorite color of purple. She ran over to Ryan and hugged him tight while Sam gave him a death glare. Ryan was so enthralled with Gracie's excitement, that he hardly registered the fact that his Alpha was most likely going to kick his ass later for getting his daughter such an expensive present.

Claire and I looked at each other nervously before handing each other our presents. I waited for her to open her present from me, all the while holding my breath. Claire ripped off the Care Bear wrapping paper and slowly pulled out the bracelet I had made her.

"It's a promise bracelet," I told her.

"I know…it's beautiful, thank you," Claire said, looking a little teary eyed.

"You make that yourself, Quil?" Ryan snickered dryly.

"Well, Jared's wife, Kim, helped. She makes a lot of things like that and sells them in the _Clearwater Supply Store_. But I did most of the work," I informed him, daring him to mock me with my eyes. Turning back to Claire, I continued, "It's a promise to you. I will always be there for you. I will always be there to protect you."

I thought I saw a flash of disappointment in her eyes, before she looked down. Didn't she like her gift? I was about to offer to get her something else, when she leaned over and hugged me. Kissing me on the cheek, she pulled back.

"Thank you again, Quil. I love it. Will you put it on me?" Claire asked as she held out her hand. I carefully tied it on her, a contended happiness growing inside me. I liked seeing the bracelet there.

"My present next," she said, looking down at the flat present I still had on my lap. She seemed to be holding her breath.

I opened it quickly, smiling at her before I looked to see what she had given me. My breath caught in my throat. She had given me a framed picture. It was an ink drawing of…me…in my wolf form. I knew that Claire liked to draw, but this was beautiful. She had done it from memory, and the accuracy was outstanding.

"It's the Makah wolf," she told me in an embarrassed tone. "You've always been there for me. It's kind of silly, but when I was little, I always seemed to know when the wolf was around. I felt better knowing that when you weren't there to protect me, the wolf was. If you don't like it though—"

Claire stopped talking as I picked up her hand and turned it over. I bent down and kissed her palm.

"I love it. Thank you, Claire," I told her. We stared at each other for a few seconds…or maybe it was a few hours. I became aware that somewhere in the distance, Emily said it was dinnertime.

Sam's mom, Dorothy, arrived in time to join the family for our meal. Gracie told her grandma about the cool new iPod Ryan had gotten her. Nate had been allowed to open one present early as well. He had received a new computer game, and now he kept glancing at the stairs with longing. I knew that as soon as he went to bed for the night, he'd be on his computer.

As dinner progressed and I enjoyed the traditional favorites of ham, hashbrown potatoes covered in corn flakes, and green beans smothered in French onions, a slow depression started to work its way through my system. I'd have to leave soon, and then I wouldn't see Claire for a whole week.

I was addicted to her presence. I didn't want to go so long without seeing her. I'd have to spend tomorrow with my parents and sister and her family, but after that, I had a feeling I'd be joining Collin on one of his nightly runs up to Makah.

I helped Sam and Nate clean up the kitchen after dinner was over, and then the family watched _A Christmas Story_ on TV. I loved the story of Ralphie and his wish for a BB gun for Christmas. I could watch that movie over and over again, which was a possibility considering one channel ran it 24 hours straight on Christmas Eve.

Soon Sam and Emily were making noises about the kids getting off to bed. Gracie pleaded to open up one more present. Sam told her she'd have to wait until the morning. He also gave Ryan a warning glare to not give Gracie anything else. I snickered at the puppy dog expression on Ryan's face. I would bet money that Ryan would also be joining Collin and me on a visit to Makah.

Finally, I started making motions to leave. Claire got up to walk me to the door. We started to pass through the hallway archway when we stopped.

"Thanks again, Quil, for the bracelet," Claire said.

"You're welcome. Thanks for the drawing. I couldn't have asked for a better present." I smiled at her as I held the drawing at my side.

"Ooooh, Quil and Claire are under the mistletoe," Gracie yelled. "You have to kiss now."

I looked at Claire and she looked back at me with a faint blush appearing on her face. She threw back her hair and raised one eyebrow as though she were challenging me.

"Kiss, kiss, kiss," Gracie, and now Nate, started chanting.

Shrugging my shoulders, I grabbed Claire's waist and brought her roughly to me for dramatic effect. I heard laughter in the background, but I quickly lost focus as I stared into Claire's eyes. I bent down slowly and heard Claire suck in an erratic breath.

Leaning towards her, I breathed in her sweet scent. God, she really did smell incredible. As I moved closer, I saw Claire's eyes flutter down. I could hear her heart speed up. Our lips were within inches of each other, when I very carefully kissed the side of her mouth.

Drawing back, I saw Claire's eyes snap up. There was definitely a look of disappointment in them, but what could I do? My Alpha was standing in the other room. I doubted he would appreciate me making out with his fifteen-year-old niece in front of his nine-year-old daughter.

Looking back at my imprint, I said gently, "Have a Merry Christmas, Claire."

"You too, Quil," she replied. She suddenly slung her arms around my neck and kissed me swiftly on the lips. Pulling back, she added with a smirk, "Have a good New Year's."

And with that, Claire turned and walked up the stairs. I stared after her for a minute and then slowly walked out of the house.


	17. Driving Lessons

_A/N – This chapter contains some mature themes._

**Chapter 17 – Driving Lessons**

Quil's POV

I got out of work early and headed for home to take a quick shower. Looking around, I found my swim trunks and changed into them and added a t-shirt. We were finally having some nice summer weather, and Claire and I had made plans to go to the beach.

I paused as I thought of Claire. She had become secretive lately. I didn't know what she was up to, but I didn't like being kept out of the loop. She was on her summer vacation now. The first few weeks that she was out of school, she had gone to the shop with me every day. She hadn't even wanted to go home to Makah for the few months she had off, and because of her improved grades and attitude, her parents had agreed to let her stay in La Push.

But over the past couple of weeks Claire had been spending less and less time at the garage. I acknowledged to myself that she was allowed to have a life that didn't revolve around me. I still missed her like crazy when she wasn't around.

I made my way over to Sam's house and entered through the front door after knocking once. The house was unusually quiet. I made my way into the living room and found Emily there reading a magazine.

"Quil, hey." Emily said, looking up.

"Sorry Em, I didn't mean to disturb you."

"No, that's okay. What brings you here?"

"I was supposed to take Claire to the beach." I explained. "Where is everyone?"

"Ryan took Gracie to the movies, and Nate is hanging out with some friends." Emily said getting up from the chair she had been sitting in to go into the kitchen.

"And Claire?" I asked, looking towards the stairs. Maybe she was upstairs sleeping.

"Claire?" Emily's tone was innocent, but her expression was guilt-ridden.

"Emily, what's going on? Where's Claire?" I questioned, getting worried.

Just then, I heard a commotion at the front door.

"Forget it Uncle Sam, I don't want to learn from you anymore."

"What'd I say?" Sam responded indignantly.

"You got mad at me because I sped up to 15 miles per hour! You do realize that when I'm actually taking driver's training, I will have to go faster than that!"

"All I said was that I thought going 15 was a little fast. You haven't been behind the wheel that long." Sam replied in a hurt tone.

"Bah!" Claire responded before coming into the kitchen. Upon seeing me there, she came to a dead stop. Looking shamefaced, she said, "Oh, hey Quil."

"You're learning how to drive a car?" I questioned. Why would she ask Sam to help her instead of me?

"Yes," Claire replied warily.

"Why didn't you ask me to teach you?" I asked petulantly. I knew I sounded like a little kid whose favorite toy just broke, but it bugged me that Claire wouldn't ask me for help.

"Please Quil," Claire said rolling her eyes. "I'm trying to learn how to drive a car. You get upset if I ride my bike without a helmet. I figured Uncle Sam was the lesser of the two evils."

Looking over at her uncle who was now being comforted with kisses by Emily, Claire added, "Maybe I was wrong though."

"You still want to go to the beach?" I asked suddenly.

Claire's eyes lit up. "Yeah, definitely."

"Okay, I'll let you drive me there." I told her, pulling the keys out of my pocket to dangle them in the air.

"Really," Claire said in an unsure tone.

"Absolutely." I replied.

"Okay Quil, but if you criticize my driving, or tell me I'm going too fast when I haven't even reached five miles an hour, I won't ever drive with you again."

"I promise to not freak out on you." I told her. Claire glared at me momentarily, then nodded and ran up to her room to change into her bathing suit.

I turned and looked at the amused expressions on Sam and Emily's faces.

'What?" I asked defensively.

"You think your going to be able to handle Claire driving a car?" Sam snickered.

"Why not?" I replied, glaring at both of them.

"Well Quil, Claire was right." Emily said. "You are really overprotective of her, and she's going to be behind the wheel of an automobile."

"So?" I responded resentfully.

Emily and Sam both busted out laughing. I didn't see what was so freaking funny.

"Just don't give her too hard a time," Emily begged. "She might never want to drive again."

I was about to argue that, when I paused. Hmm…maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to give Claire a hard time. Did I honestly want my Claire-bear driving? I rather drive her everywhere myself.

Claire came down the stairs wearing an oversized shirt and flip-flops. She was carrying a bag that I could see contained sun block and a beach towel.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Yes," Claire said, smiling at me as she took the keys.

"Claire, what time's Lindsey arriving?" Emily asked.

"Around 6 pm. Love you." Claire said to her aunt and uncle before turning to me, "Let's go Quil."

Sam and Emily started chuckling again. I gave them both a dirty look before I walked out of the house. I shut the door on their laughter. I could do this, no problem! At least that was what I thought before I got into the car with my young imprint behind the wheel.

Claire started the car with a gleeful laugh and threw the car in reverse. Peeling out of the driveway, she threw the car in drive and hit the gas. I didn't think it was possible for my Ford Escort to go from 0 to 60 in four seconds. I closed my eyes and started praying.

"You know…Claire--"

"What Quil? I know you aren't about to judge my driving, because you promised you wouldn't." Claire said in a sing-song voice.

I looked up and saw her smirking. I glared at her in warning, and she immediately slowed the car down. We made it to the beach in record time. Damn, I hated to admit it, but Claire drove like me. Claire parked the car once we got to the beach and hopped out.

Looking at me through the open car door, she said "We're here Quil. You can breathe again."

Laughing, she grabbed her bag from where she had tossed it in the backseat and made her way across the sand. I slowly got out of the car. I realized that my hands were trembling slightly. Maybe Emily could give Claire driving lessons from now on.

By the time I reached Claire, she had already laid out her towel. I sat down next to her just as she stripped off her large t-shirt. My eyes widened as I took in what she was wearing underneath.

Claire had on a tiny black bikini. The front and back of the bottom part were held together by strings. All someone had to do was untie one side and the whole damn section would fall off. One part of me wanted to cover her up. I actually had a towel in my hand and was debating whether to do so. Another part of me wanted to continue to stare.

I hadn't seen Claire in so little since she was a toddler. She certainly hadn't looked like that when she was a kid. Although she was of average height, her legs seemed endless and she had managed to develop the most perfect breasts I had ever seen.

"Does your mother know that you have a bathing suit like that?" I asked in a strangled tone.

"Duh, who do you think bought it for me?" Claire said before rolling on her stomach. Pushing her light brown hair in front of her, she handed me her bottle of sun block and asked, "Can you put this on my back?"

"Uh…sure," I replied. I reached over and squirted some in my hands and started to pat some on her skin. It felt like I was running my hands over silk.

"Quil, you seem uptight lately. Are you having women problems?" Claire asked her face buried in her beach towel.

"You have no idea," I muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing. You think I'm uptight?"

"I don't know…maybe."

"Well, maybe I'm uptight because you were keeping your driving lessons a secret. I always know when you're hiding something, you know."

Claire turned her head slightly so that she was facing me. "I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to get how you get."

"How do I get?" I asked, already knowing that I was about to be insulted.

Claire snorted before putting her head back on the towel. "You go into mother hen mode."

"That's only because I want to protect my best friend."

"Hmph," Claire mumbled into the towel. I continued to rub lotion on her back in the area between the top and bottom of her bikini.

"Done," I told her, trying not to stare at her bottom. She really had the most incredible curves.

"Don't forget to get under the bikini top and here too," Claire said coyly, reaching behind her to lift the bottom section of her bathing suit off her skin slightly. "And the back of my legs too, please."

Was she fucking kidding me with this? Did she think I was stupid? Claire was getting to the age where she was becoming more curious about sex. I knew that. She was becoming sexually aware of herself as a woman and wanted someone to practice on. So fine, I'd oblige. That's what best friends were for, right?

"Sure Claire." I responded.

I poured more sun block into my hands. I started with her neck again. Instead of just patting her neck with lotion, I massaged it in. I slowly worked my way down, rubbing in between her shoulder blades. I made my way to her bikini top. Instead of going underneath it, I unhooked it. Claire went completely still. I smiled.

I grabbed the bottle and poured more lotion on her back and rubbed it in. I let my hands drift to the sides where they met the beginning curves of her breasts. Claire sucked in a breath.

Bending down close to her ear, I whispered, "I think that part of your back has enough lotion on it now."

I leaned up and hooked her top back together. I felt myself smirk as I heard her faint, shallow breathing.

I next focused on her bottom area. I put more lotion on my hands and worked my way down the spine until I reached the hem of her bikini bottom. Slowly, I let my one hand drift under the hem. I ran my fingers just under the edge of the material, not going far enough to meet the beginning slope that was waiting to greet my touch.

"That takes care of that part," I told her, removing my hand out from underneath the cloth. I bent over and lightly kissed near the bottom of her spine and sat back. I thought I heard Claire groan. "Now the legs."

I grabbed some more lotion and started with the bottom of her right foot. I rubbed every inch. She squirmed slightly at the feel of my hands. Claire was very ticklish on her feet. I stopped tormenting her and slowly worked my way up her calf. I got to the back of her knee and continued up farther. I let both of my hands encircle her smooth leg as I worked my way up.

I stopped when I got close to the bottom edge of her bikini. I felt Claire shiver. My index finger was maybe an inch from Claire's womanhood. When I didn't move, Claire parted her legs slightly. That was all the encouragement I needed.

I was about to move my finger up to touch her where we both craved when I froze. I could hear a stupid annoying voice inside my head screaming, _Stop! Stop Now! You are about to commit a felony on your 15-year-old best friend! _

_She'll be 16 next month, _an evil voice interceded.

_NO!!! STOP!!! _The first voice screamed back.

I jerked back, my hands falling to my side. What the hell was I thinking letting things go that far? This was supposed to be a joke. Tease her for teasing me! What the fuck was wrong with me!

I could feel Claire starting to turn towards me. I ripped off my shirt and crouched away from her so that she wouldn't see the evidence of how our game had affected me.

"Claire, I'm going for a swim. You can do your other leg yourself."

And with that I ran faster than humanly possible into the water. I could only pray that no one glanced at my swim trunks. If they did, I was sure it wouldn't be too long before Charlie Swan arrived to take me to jail.

I swam long, steady strokes as I let the cold water race over my skin. I felt sick with guilt.

_Why feel guilty? She's your soulmate. Take what's being offered,_ the evil voice said.

_She doesn't know what she's doing, she's just a kid playing a stupid adult game,_ the sane voice reminded me.

_She won't be a kid for long,_ the first voice argued.

_She's still a kid for another two years, one month, and 25 days,_ the second voice replied angrily.

Ahh! I was going crazy. Nice freaking imprint magic! Is this what it does? Messes with your mind until you feel like your going to go insane?

I couldn't believe what I had almost done. No matter what, Claire was still just a kid. She had trusted me to protect her, and I had let her down. I was her best friend, nothing more! I probably wouldn't have taken it that far, if it hadn't been for the fact that I hadn't even touched another woman in years.

I swam until I felt I had my body back under control. I kept swimming against the current, relishing in the fight of the pull. It helped take away some of my strain. I also started thinking of Embry and his pain. That was always a mood killer.

When I finally made my way back to the beach, I realized that Claire was no longer alone. There were two guys standing next to where she was sitting. Both looked to be about Claire's age.

"Hey Quil," Claire said, her eyes lighting up as I approached. "These are couple of my friends from school. This is Keith and this is Sully."

Claire pointed to each kid. They both said "hi" and then ignored me.

"So Claire, you think you're going to be able to attend the bonfire tonight," the kid introduced as Sully looked at Claire with a hopeful expression on his face.

"I'd have to ask my aunt and uncle," Claire said, turning her head in a flirtatious manner. I looked out at the water.

"It'll be a lot of fun," Sully responded. Jeez, were all 16-year-old boys so freaking needy?

"My friend Lindsey's coming down to visit me this weekend. If my aunt and uncle say its okay and my friend wants to go, then we'll come."

"Cool," Sully replied, a too toothy smile breaking across his face.

"Is your friend hot?" Keith asked.

"Ugh, you are such a pig," Claire laughed.

"Well…hope to see you there, Claire," Sully said, not taking his eyes off her. Keith finally grabbed his arm and dragged him back to where a group of high school guys were playing football. I suddenly felt very old.

"They seem nice," I probed. Claire was still looking in their direction.

"Hmm…oh yeah, they are." Claire said turning back to look at me with a smile. "Quil, can we leave now. I want to take a shower before Lindsey gets here."

"Sure," I replied.

We packed up our things and headed towards the parking lot. This time, Claire drove back to Sam and Emily's house without showing any of her previous recklessness.

"So, how'd she do?" Sam questioned after we had gotten back, and Claire had run up the stairs to her room.

"Fine," I replied, feeling slightly out of sorts.

"You okay?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," I answered. _By the way, I almost inappropriately touched your underage niece on a public beach today._

Thank God we weren't in wolf form right now, otherwise I had a feeling that Sam would rip me a new one. I'd have to be careful to conceal the day's events the next time I patrolled. I left after a couple of minutes and went back to my house.

I sat down in the chair in my living room and put my head in my hands. What the hell was wrong with me? Was I so hard up for a woman, that I could lose control like that with Claire? Did she have any idea of how close I had come to taking things too far? Did this mean my feelings were changing?

I didn't think so. I still felt a strong affection for her, but I didn't think I was falling in love with her. It had been over 13 years since I had anything remotely physical with a woman, so I could understand my body's reaction earlier. But was there anything more to it?

As I sat there, I realized that I kept glancing at my watch. I couldn't stop thinking about Claire. Lindsey would have arrived by now. They were probably at the bonfire with Keith…and Sully. What a stupid name.

I heard a knocking in my head. I wished there was something strong enough on the market to get rid of werewolf headaches. I heard it again and was startled to realize that it was actually someone at my door.

"Come in," I yelled, not even wanting to get up from my chair. Collin came running into the house and headed to where I was sitting.

"Lindsey's here," Collin said desperately.

"I know," I mumbled into my hands.

"We have to go to the bonfire. I need to see her," Collin begged.

"No way, Claire will think I'm spying on her." I told him, taking my hands away from my face.

"Please," Collin pleaded. "You want me to beg on my knees? Fine!"

I watched with slight amusement as Collin did just that.

"Please Quil, I'm begging you. Come with me to the bonfire. You can see Claire anytime. I never get to see Lindsey. Pleeeeease!"

"You're pathetic, you know that?" I sighed. "Why can't you go without me?"

"I need an excuse to be there. We can say we were randomly out walking and we saw the fire. They'll accept you because you know Claire."

"Oh sure, we just randomly happened to come to the area…Claire won't buy that."

"Quil, I need you, man. Please do this for me." Collin begged again.

"Fine!" I said exasperatedly.

"Thank you Quil." Collin said, getting up from his knees.

Sure, this wouldn't be too awkward. It took us fifteen minutes to reach the bonfire area. As soon as we walked towards the fire, Lindsey strolled over to us. Within seconds, Collin and Lindsey had disappeared. I was left standing by myself, feeling like an idiot.

"Quil! What are you doing here?" I heard Claire's voice.

Turning, I took in the sight of her. She was wearing jeans and a form fitting t-shirt. She looked like an average teenager was supposed to. She certainly didn't look like the seductress who had worn the black bikini earlier. I refused to allow my eyes to examine the curves that the tight t-shirt revealed.

"Collin wanted to say hi to Lindsey," I told her lamely. I was going to kill Collin next time I saw him.

"Hey Claire, you want a soda pop?" Sully suddenly appeared. He was eyeing me warily. I felt like rolling my eyes.

"That'd be great, thanks Sully," Claire responded shyly.

I felt strange as I took in the scene in front of me. I had never seen Claire act this way in front of anyone other than me. And that was when she was 13 and was developing a little crush on me. I recognized the signs. Claire was developing feelings for this kid.

"I'll be right back." Sully responded, smiling.

"C'mon Quil. Sit down and enjoy the fire for a minute." Claire said grabbing my hand and sitting down near the bonfire.

I realized in that moment that my actions on the beach earlier that day, the same actions that had tormented me all day, had absolutely no effect on Claire. She was acting like my best friend again. I looked over at Sully who kept glancing back at Claire. Claire was pretending very hard not to notice, but I could see her peeping at him out of the corner of her eye.

"So you like him, huh?" I finally asked, lightly elbowing her side in a joking manner. She looked at me with confusion all over her face.

"I…I don't know Quil. He's always been really nice to me in school." Claire said hesitantly.

I turned and looked at the fire for a minute. This was exactly what I wanted for Claire. I wanted her to enjoy her teen years. I turned and looked at Claire and then looked over at the kid who had caught her attention. Sully kept looking back at Claire with longing. Why did I suddenly feel like I had been punched in the stomach?

"You know what," I said, looking at Claire. "I'm going to go. Tell Collin that I left if you see him."

"Quil," Claire responded, grabbing my hand, "You don't have to go."

"Nah, it's okay. You don't need me hanging around. You should be hanging around kids your own age." I told her, looking pointedly at Sully.

Claire's eyes darkened for a second before she let go of my hand. She nodded slowly. I stared at her a moment watching the colors from the bonfire dance across her face. How was it possible that she got more breath-taking everyday?

I got up and walked away. I turned right before I left the area and saw Sully sitting next to Claire again. He said something and she threw back her head and laughed. I loved the sound of her laughter.

I walked quickly to my car, ignoring the sudden urge I felt to go back and rip that kid's head off.

_A/N – I'm really looking forward to reading the responses for this chapter. __**Please review!!!**_


	18. School Group

_A/N – I was going to post this tomorrow, but then I remembered tomorrow is the beginning of a holiday weekend for us in the States. If you are going to be around this weekend, let me know, and I might try to post another chapter in the next few days. I hope everyone has a happy and safe Memorial weekend! Be advised, this chapter does contain strong language._

**Chapter 18 – School Group**

Quil's POV

I made my way up Sam's driveway glancing around for Claire's car. She wasn't home. Ever since school started up again, I hadn't seen as much of her. She had gotten involved with some school group that focused on environmental causes. I think this week's fight was a campaign to "Save the Wolves."

Things had been…normal since the summer. Nothing had changed between us. She had spent the rest of her summer hanging out with me. She never mentioned that Sully kid to me, and I knew after carefully probing Emily for information, that Claire wasn't dating him.

I chuckled to myself as I thought about Claire's 16th birthday party. Her Makah friends Ashley, Amber, and of course Lindsey, had come down for the big day along with Claire's parents, sister, and brother. Best yet, Sully and his entourage had not been invited. Most of the wolf pack had been there too.

Collin had never left Lindsey's side. I knew from the worried glances exchanged between Stacy and Ronnie that they had been concerned about an older guy obviously hitting on their teenage daughter's best friend. Stacy had even made a comment to me about it, and I had had to reassure her that Collin was harmless.

It had been a simple party. Just some birthday cake and ice cream. But it had been a lot of fun and I knew that Claire had enjoyed it as well.

Claire's parents, Sam and Emily, and I had all chipped in to get Claire a car. It was actually something that the guys and I had fixed up in the garage, so it hadn't been that expensive. It wasn't that pretty to look at, but it ran, and it had one of the safest road records on the market.

Claire had loved it. As soon as she had seen it, she had thrown her arms around my neck and had given me a great big hug. She, Ashley, Amber, and Lindsey had promptly gotten into the car and had spent the rest of her birthday joyriding around the reservation.

Still smiling at the memory, I knocked on Sam's front door and let myself in. I walked into the living room. I could see Ryan, Gracie, and Nate in the backyard. It looked like Nate and Ryan were trying to build some type of birdhouse. Ryan wasn't getting much done because Gracie kept hanging on his back. I heard a groan and looked over.

Sam and Emily were on the couch making out. She was sitting on his lap. Oh shit! I quickly turned to leave, but the wood floor underneath my feet groaned loudly.

"Oh, hey Quil," Emily said, sliding quickly off Sam's lap. She had an embarrassed expression on her face. Sam looked like he was going to kill me.

"Hey, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt…uh…well, interrupt whatever. I was just hoping you'd know when Claire would be home."

"She had a meeting for that school group she's in. She should be home around 5 pm." Emily told me. "You want to stay and wait for her. Dinner should be ready soon."

"Sure," I replied, sitting down in the chair. I made sure to stay away from the couch where Sam was sitting. He had a disgruntled look on his face. Emily got up and went into the kitchen.

Running a hand through his hair, Sam glanced over and me and chuckled. "Relax Quil."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt--"

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Sam reassured me, though he still had a slightly frustrated look on his face.

"Did you hear about Collin." I asked, still not making eye contact.

"No, what now?" Sam said.

"Apparently Lindsey told him she liked him. They're emailing each other now everyday." I told him, rolling my eyes. Collin had been so ecstatic, he had stopped by the shop today to gush about it. He had acted like a little girl with a schoolgirl crush on someone.

Sam laughed, "Well, at least something is going right for one of you. Now, what are we going to do about you?"

"Me? What about me?" I asked.

"You know, I've known you for a long time now. You were one of our first wolves. Now that Jared, Paul, and Leah have retired from the pack, and Embry's gone off on his own, you and Seth are my second and third in command. I think I know you pretty well by now, Quil, and I've never felt you so conflicted."

"I'm not conflicted." I said stubbornly.

"So you didn't try to seduce my niece on the beach this summer?" Sam accused.

Dammit to hell! I thought I had hid the beach incident well. But as hard as I tried, I couldn't stop thinking about what almost had happened. How Claire's skin had felt underneath my hands. How incredible she had looked in her bikini. I had spent more time then I wanted to admit dwelling on what might have happened. But I had thought I'd been careful to hide my thoughts while in wolf form.

"That was just…hormones." I responded to Sam's question.

"And that's it…hormones." Sam replied.

"Yeah," I answered.

"So your feelings for Claire still aren't changing." Sam prodded.

"No," I replied obstinately. "I still only see Claire as a friend."

A friend that I wanted to sleep with granted, but there was no need to tell Sam that. Lust was not the same thing as being in love.

Sam sighed. I glanced over at him. He had always seemed older to us, probably because his body had aged and froze at 30, while the rest of us were stuck at 25 or 26, but he suddenly seemed very tired. I looked over at the kitchen area where I could see Emily working. She had to be about 32 now.

"Sam, you ever think about retiring yourself?" I asked.

Sam looked thoughtful for a minute, before he looked outside to where his children were. "Yeah, I have."

"But you're not ready too?"

"I'm waiting," Sam said, clasping his hands in front of him and putting his elbows on his knees.

"Waiting for what?" I asked. It wasn't that I wanted Sam to retire, but with Emily getting older now, I was curious why he wouldn't want to age with her.

"I'm waiting to see what happens with Nate. He's 12 now. He's already starting to develop the signs that he inherited the werewolf gene. He's too tall for his age and he's gaining muscle without trying. I need to see if he inherited the Alpha gene before I retire. I can't just turn the pack over to anyone. I have to turn it over to an Alpha male. With Jacob and his children gone, I can't retire until I know the pack has the appropriate leadership."

"I didn't know that you had to turn the pack over to an Alpha." I replied.

"Yeah, I didn't either until Emily turned 30. I was going to retire then, and that was when Billy told me.

"But there hasn't been any vampire activity in the area in years, why is Nate still changing?"

"Maybe it's because the Cullens' friends use to vacation in this area, or maybe the imprint magic knows something we don't…I don't know, but something is making my son change. Whatever it is, it means that the pack is still needed, which means I can't retire yet."

We were both silent for a minute, lost in our own thoughts. I wondered who else would change. Jared's twin girls were 11 now and didn't show any signs that they inherited their dad's gene. Maybe Leah was going to be the only female wolf after all. The next oldest boy of the new generation was Paul's eldest son, Devlin. He was only eight though.

As I sat there thinking over what Sam had told me, I thought I heard a sound in the front of the house. Listening closer, I realized that there was a car here, but it didn't sound like Claire's car. I jumped up from my chair, my head half cocked as I listened for any sign that Claire might be in the strange car. I heard nothing, but some music. I could tell it was some type of hip hop music from the base. Definitely not Claire's type of music.

I stood there for a few minutes just listening. When the car still hadn't pulled away, I started walking to the front of the house. I saw Sam give me a knowing look before I made my way out to the hall. I could hear Ryan, Gracie, and Nate enter the living room for dinner. I continued to make my way to the front of the house. I opened the front door and peered at the car in the driveway.

Fury like I had never felt before coursed through me. Even when Claire had run away, and I had found her in that apartment with two strange men, even then I had never reached this level of anger. I felt the warning heat rush up and down my spine, and I was shaking so hard that I was starting to blur. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. If I had been a new wolf, I would have exploded by now. Claire was home alright. She was also locked in a passionate kiss with Sully's friend Keith.

I saw his hand slowly move to her one breast. That was it! He was taking advantage of her. I'd kill him! Well, not kill him but definitely smash in his face so that he wouldn't be able to kiss anyone ever again.

_You're overreacting. This is what you wanted for her, remember? _The sane voice inside my head said.

_Shut the fuck up_, the evil voice yelled back. It was that voice that spurned me forward. I went over to the passenger door.

A rusty metal sound polluted the air as I forced the door open. I wondered if I damaged the car and hoped that I did. I reached in the car and pulled Claire out. I looked at the kid in the seat. He was staring at me with wide, surprised eyes.

"This evening is over," I glared down at Keith, before continuing in a soft, deadly voice, "Touch her again and you and I will have a serious issue, understand?"

I felt something light hit my back and heard Claire say "Quil!" The rage burned so strongly in my ears that I barely heard her.

"Do you understand?" I repeated to the petrified boy.

"Ye-Yes sir," Keith replied.

"It's time for you to leave," I told him, seeing red.

"Yes sir," the stupid kid repeated.

I slammed the car door and backed away from the vehicle. I watched as the car flew backwards and then he was gone, squealing his tires as he left. Jeez, what an asshole. I turned to look at Claire who was staring at me as though I had just crawled out from under a rock.

"Have you lost your mind?" She screeched. "How dare you do that! You have just completely embarrassed me. How could you Quil?"

"I thought you were supposed to be out with your school group. What the hell were you doing with that guy?" I yelled back just as intensely and felt the slightest satisfaction when she flinched. Good, maybe she was starting to register that she was in deep trouble.

"I was out with the group. My car wouldn't start so Keith offered to bring me home. We went out for a coffee date after our meeting ended. You know a date…dating? Ever heard of the concept?" she replied flippantly.

"Watch yourself, I'm not your father, I won't put up that mouth," I said menacingly.

"You're absolutely right. You aren't my father. Hell, you aren't even my Uncle Sam. You're just Quil, my supposed friend who just completely humiliated me," she screamed, her voice getting higher on each word. She was staring at me with hatred in her eyes and a telling red heat in her cheeks. I had never seen her look so wild. She was beautiful.

Taking a deep breath, she continued, "How could you do that, Quil?"

"How could I do what? Stop you from making a fool of yourself with every guy on the reservation?" I responded, starting to shake again.

"Every guy?" Claire screamed. "One guy, Quil! And I'm sorry, but I am allowed to kiss whoever I want!"

"You're too young to go around making out with anyone you feel like," I argued.

"I'm 16, Quil. Weren't you sixteen when you had sex the first time?"

Sex! She was having sex with him? I'd kill that asshole. I'd track him down and kill him. He was corrupting Claire. She was at La Push to stay away from bad influences, god dammit!

"You can't…you can't be with him," I replied, fury making me shake so bad that I could hardly speak.

"Who the hell put you in charge of my life?" Claire demanded.

"Claire, we're friends--"

"Friends, ha!" Claire shouted out like a mad woman. "Friends don't do what you just did Quil. You had absolutely no right to act like you did. It's not like you want me."

I felt something snap inside me.

"That's right, I don't want you," I yelled back at the top of my lungs. "But I'm not going to let you act like a whore either.

I saw tears well up in her eyes a second before her hand came crashing into the side of my face. I hardly felt it, but I knew she had by the sudden yelp she let out. She brought her hand to her chest where she cradled it. I took a step forward to help her. She stepped away. Her face held such a look of loathing on it that it lanced across my heart.

"I'll never forgive you for tonight," Claire whispered, before turning into the house and shutting the door quietly behind her. I didn't know how long I was out there before I slowly turned and walked back into the house. I needed to apologize to Claire, but I was still too pissed to think straight. Sam and Emily were in the kitchen. Everyone else was gone; most likely upstairs.

"So what happened?" Sam asked when he saw me. I told Sam and Emily in detail of what I had witnessed. I saw them both exchange amused looks and felt my temper flare again.

"You don't think you overreacted a little bit?" Sam asked with a smirk on his face. He thought this was funny. That was it! Alpha or not, I was going to kick his ass!

"Well, if you want your niece to act like the reservation whore then I guess I won't stop her next time." I said sarcastically.

"Watch your mouth, Quil." Sam said, the amusement gone off his face.

I could see that his hands were starting to tremble slightly. I didn't know if he was upset from the tone I used in front of Emily, or the fact that I had just called his niece a whore. And Emily…Emily looked slightly amused. What the hell did she find so fucking funny? I didn't say anything else, but the fury I felt was starting to make me blur. I took another breath to calm down.

"You don't think maybe this has more to do with you instead of Claire?" Emily said softly.

"What do you mean?" I replied, still trying to calm down before I phased in the middle of the living room.

"You don't think that maybe you're starting to transition from the best friend phase to seeing her as something more? That maybe you're starting to fall in love with her?"

"No, I don't fucking love her!" I yelled. I hoped Claire heard it too. Why should I be the only who was always screwed up inside. From the sudden sever pain that hit my body, I realized that she had heard me. Sam looked like he was about to deck me, but Emily put a restraining hand on his arm.

"So you're not jealous then?" Emily prodded.

I gripped the counter edge and tried to control myself as the angry heat in my back was getting stronger. Taking a deep breath, "She's my friend, that's it. And right now I don't even want that!"

Immediate images of Claire kissing that asshole flashed through my mind making me shake so hard that I felt part of the counter break off in my hand. Sam grabbed Emily and pushed her behind him as I started to lose control again and began to blur.

"Quil, would you mind leaving the house before you phase?" Sam said calmly.

I ran out of the house and didn't even have time to take off my clothes before I burst into my wolf form. I thought I heard Emily say something that sounded like "Yeah, he not jealous at all…" and Sam laugh softly in return.

Fucking imprint couples! What the hell did they know anyway! I flew into the woods and ran as fast as I could. I felt a shimmer and knew that Seth and Collin had just phased. I concentrated all my energies on phasing back. I didn't want anyone in my head right now.

"Hey Quil, you okay?" Seth asked. I didn't answer him. After another minute, I managed to phase back somehow. I stalked through the forest angrily.

Jealous! I wasn't jealous. Jealousy was a wasteful emotion. Excuse me for being the only one who cared about Claire's virtues. If she wanted to act like a hooker, someone needed to be there to stop her from her harmful behavior. It apparently wasn't going to be Sam or any other member of her fucking family. But jealousy had nothing to do with it whatsoever.

I went over to a boulder and punched it. It cracked along with my hand.

_A/N – Thank you again to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I hope you don't hate Quil too much after this one. _


	19. Eating Crow

**Chapter 19 – Eating Crow**

Quil's POV

I woke up the next day feeling sick…literally sick. I had an upset stomach and severe headache. It was worse than any hangover I had ever had. Worse, my entire body felt like it had been beaten by a crowbar. My hand, which I had broken last night when I'd punched that boulder, throbbed painfully. It should have healed by now.

I knew the legends said that wolves couldn't hurt their imprints. The legends should have been more specific. You could hurt them, but it wasn't advisable because you felt like absolute shit the next day.

Like anyone who suffered from a hangover, I thought about the previous night's events and winced. I had been completely out of control in my anger with Claire. She had a right to date and kiss anyone she wanted. Just because the idea of her doing exactly that made me want to get up and punch something, didn't mean she couldn't explore her options.

I crawled slowly out of bed, wincing the entire time. I sat on the edge of the mattress trying not to move. It felt like tiny jackhammers were pounding all over my head…hell, all over my body. If I hadn't been in such a rage last night, I probably would have doubled over in pain the moment I yelled at Claire. Sighing, I put my head in my hands.

Claire. How was I ever going to make up for what I did and said to her? Would she even want to speak to me again after the way I behaved? How could I do that to her?

No one else had ever behaved like that towards their imprint. They had fallen instantly in love and had their happy ever after. Sam, Paul, Jared, all of them. Not one of them ever went through what I was dealing with.

Well…except for Jacob who had also imprinted on a kid, but he didn't really count as going through what I was because Nessie had aged so quickly. And Embry wasn't exactly living his happy ever after, but at least he imprinted on an adult. And I guess Collin didn't really count either as dealing with the same problems that I had, because Lindsey was almost legal. It wasn't like he had had to go through the long, painful process of transitioning from big brother to best friend to whatever the hell stage we were in now. The only one that might have an inkling of what I felt was Ryan.

Because like his relationship with Gracie, I had waited years for Claire. I felt so mixed up inside it was unreal. I didn't know if I was still feeling so overprotective because I wanted to look after her like I had done since she was a toddler. Or was it because of something more? Was I finally falling in love with her?

All I knew was that my average day was determined on whether I got to see Claire or not. If I didn't see her, it was the worst day possible. If I got to see her, then it was the best day I ever dreamed of. Just being around her, breathing in her sweet scent and seeing her smile, was enough to lift any mood I was in. I needed to be around Claire like I needed to breathe air or drink water. I needed her in my life.

But there was nothing unusual with that. I had always needed to be near Claire. So how could I tell if I was falling in love? Like my grandfather said, I couldn't force it; it would just someday hit me. So maybe the fact that I felt so confused was because I wasn't in love with her yet? The one thing I couldn't discount was the fact that the idea of anyone but me touching Claire was enough to drive me insane. Sighing, I made my way slowly out of my bed and into the bathroom for a shower.

No matter how I felt, I knew one thing for sure. I wasn't going to be able to function until I spoke with Claire again. Ironic that the one person causing all the confusion in me was the one person I wanted to speak with most. Anytime either of us had a problem, we'd talk it out with each other. Whether it was something simple or something complex, Claire and I always had turned to each other. Perhaps if I just talked to her about my feelings, she'd be able to help me sort them out.

I got out of the shower and dressed slowly. My body ached so bad that I was half tempted to crawl back in my bed and pray that death would find me quickly. I pulled on some pants, but didn't bother with a shirt or shoes. I glanced at the bed with longing and felt a sharp pull on the back of my spine.

"I'm going, I'm going," I muttered.

I walked the short distance to Sam's house. It normally was only a 10 minute walk. Today, it took me 45 minutes. I felt like an old man as I walked half hunched over, up the driveway to Sam's front door. By the time I got there, I barely had the energy to knock on the door. I couldn't even find the strength to open it and let myself in.

Gracie opened it and gave me a dirty look. "Oh, it's you."

"Yeah, it's me," I said, leaning against the doorframe weakly.

"Claire hates you, you know," Gracie told me matter-of-factually.

"I'm not surprised." I answered as I entered the house. I knew Claire was nearby, I could feel the strength returning slightly to my limbs. I still had pain though.

"You made her cry," Gracie said.

I had to stop as another sharp pain hit me. I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. Gracie stormed by me, brushing against me hard as she headed towards the living room. She almost knocked me over, which said something for the condition I was in. I made my way into the kitchen where Emily was sitting at the table drinking coffee.

"Good morning Quil, here to eat some crow?" Emily asked cheerfully.

"Yeah," I responded ashamedly. Looking around I said, "Where's Sam?"

"He went to the hardware store to see if he could find something to fix our counter."

I looked over at the counter and saw the damage I had done to it. There was a chunk missing off the edge, and a slight crack that ran all the way to the wall. Cursing myself silently, I looked over at Emily.

"I'm so sorry about that Em. If you need to replace the counter, I'll pay for it," I stated.

"Don't worry about it," Emily replied looking at me closely. "You look like hell."

"I feel like it," I responded, rubbing my eyes tiredly. "Listen Emily, I'm really sorry about last night. I completely overreacted."

Emily smirked, "Well, no one ever said imprinting was easy."

"It was for you and Sam."

"You think so?" Emily said, turning her head so that I got a full view of the scars on her face. I frowned.

"So does Claire really like this guy?" I blurted out before I could stop myself.

She paused for a minute and then looked away, "I don't know Quil, but try to remember, she's only 16. She's just at the age where she's experimenting. Even if she does develop feelings for someone now, it doesn't necessarily mean she'll end up marrying the guy."

"And by experimenting, do you mean she's sleeping with the guy?" I asked painfully.

Emily started laughing. "No, she's not sleeping with him. She's not having sex."

"How do you know?"

"Because she told me last night once she calmed down long enough to talk a little bit to me."

"Oh," I said lamely while I felt some of my tension dissipate. "I guess I should see if she'll talk to me."

I got up and slowly made my way over to the stairs. The pull that I always felt between Claire and me felt stronger than ever. I needed to see her as soon as possible.

"Quil," Emily called out before I had my foot on the first step. "No matter what Claire says, just remember that some part of her heart will always belong to you, no matter what happens. Trust me, I'm speaking from experience."

I watched as Emily absently ran her hand across the scarred side of her face. Nodding, I turned and slowly made my way up the stairs. I headed towards Claire's room. Her door wasn't shut completely. I glanced in the room and saw Claire sitting on the edge of her bed with her feet hanging over the mattress. She was staring blankly at the wall opposite of her. Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door and let myself in, shutting the door behind me.

"Hey," I said, taking in her puffy eyes painfully. She glanced over and immediately looked away.

"Hello Quil," Claire replied stiffly, not meeting my eyes.

She began to nervously play with her bedspread. I couldn't take it. I went over to where she was sitting and knelt down on the floor in front of her, settling myself between her feet. I went to grab her hands, when I noticed her pinky finger on her right hand was taped to her ring finger.

"What happened to your hand?" I asked, trembling as I picked it up carefully.

"I dislocated my finger when I smacked you last night," Claire said in a dead voice. "Aunt Emily had to take me to the hospital last night so that they could put it back in place."

Oh God. While I was out in the woods acting like a spoiled brat, my Claire was in the hospital. If I could have jumped off a cliff in that moment I would have. Though I knew it wouldn't do any good. It wasn't like I wouldn't survive the fall.

I picked up her hand and kissed the injured finger. "Claire, I don't know what I can do or say to make up for last night. Please, please tell me what I can do to make you forgive me. If you want, you can run me over with Sam's truck…just please forgive me."

Claire looked at me for a moment, before sighing and reaching up to cradle the side of my face with her good hand, "Sometimes you act like you're my father. I wish you would realize that I'm growing up."

"I know you are. I had no right to act like I did. You're allowed to have your life."

"You really hurt me Quil." Claire said, dropping her hand from my face.

"I know. I wish I could take it back because I didn't mean any of it. I would understand if you never wanted to speak to me again. But Claire, I need you."

I wrapped my arms around her and rested my face against her belly. I took a deep breath in, breathing in her essence. If she pushed me away, I didn't think I'd be able to handle it. Some of the pain ebbed away as I felt Claire kiss my head.

"Quil, I don't know what I'm going to do with you," I heard her mumble tiredly before she whispered, "I don't want to fight though…it hurts too much."

_Tell her._ I pulled away and looked up into her incredible brown eyes. I felt my forehead furrow as I tried to assemble my jumbled thoughts into some kind of order.

"See, the thing is Claire, I think that I might be fa--"

"Oh Quil," Claire suddenly said, tears pouring down her face which she quickly covered with her hands.

"Claire, what is it?" I asked, my own mixed up feelings instantly pushed aside.

'You were right. I did act like a whore." Claire sobbed. She looked up at me then. Of all the reactions I had expected from her, guilt certainly hadn't been one of them, but that was exactly what I read on her face.

"No, I wasn't. Claire, I was being an ass. Please don't listen to anything I said last night…I was an idiot. You have every right to kiss whomever you want."

But instead of comforting her, she just cried harder. Each sob sent shooting pain through me, and I quickly got up from the floor and sat next to her on the bed, wrapping my arm around her. She turned and buried her face in my chest.

"Please Claire, please stop. You'll make yourself sick." I begged.

"But I did act like a whore…I don't know why I let things get that far with Keith. I don't even like him." Claire bawled, before pulling away to look at me with red eyes. The tip of her nose was red too. I was half tempted to lean down and kiss it.

"Why did you let him kiss you then if you didn't want him too?" I questioned in a confused tone.

"I was using him." Claire admitted guiltily.

"How so?" I reached up and pulled a piece of hair that clung to her wet cheeks and tucked it behind her ear.

"I…I wanted to see if I could make someone jealous," Claire said, looking away from me and blushing.

"Oh…who?" I asked casually, holding my breath.

"Sully," Claire said before bursting into tears again.

I released the breath I was holding and felt disappointment weigh heavily in my stomach.

"So you like Sully," I said calmly.

"Yeah, but he never asked me out," Claire said. Then, looking at me with tears in her eyes, she whispered, "Quil, I _really_ like him."

I drew her into my arms and sighed. She didn't need to be unloaded with my confused emotions right now. My best friend was suffering from a broken heart.

"So what's the problem? Is the guy blind or something?"

Claire grinned a watery smile. "No, he's not blind. I don't understand him though. We seemed to really hit it off at the bonfire this summer. He kept making me laugh and he's so cute Quil."

She looked at me for confirmation. I rolled my eyes and muttered, "Yeah, he's just adorable."

Claire laughed and buried her face into my chest. I kissed the top of her head. Claire wrapped her arms around me tighter, but pulled away so that her head was resting on my shoulder.

"I really thought he liked me too, but then we hung out a few times this summer and he just blew me off. But ever since school started again, he keeps hanging around me. He and Keith even joined the "Green Earth" group I'm in, but he still hasn't asked me out. When Keith offered to give me a ride home yesterday, Sully looked upset, so I said yes. I kissed Keith because I had hoped that Sully would find out. So you see I'm no better than a whore."

Claire started to cry again. Sighing, I pulled her onto my lap and cradled her. I picked up her injured hand and kissed her palm.

"Claire, don't ever call yourself that again. You're a wonderful and beautiful girl, and I'm a jackass who doesn't deserve to have you as my friend," I told her before hugging her tighter. "Maybe you should just ask the guy out. Women do that now-a-days, you know."

"I couldn't," Claire replied, blushing.

"What's the worse that could happen? He could say no, right? And if that happens, then he's not worth it. Trust me Claire, there is someone out there for you whether it's this guy or not."

She looked at me for a moment before she leaned in and kissed my cheek. "Thank you Quil. I'm sorry I hit you last night."

"I'm sorry I threatened Keith and insulted you." I replied, picking up her hand again to kiss each one of her fingers before kissing the injured pinky tenderly.

"Well, I know how you can make it up to me." Claire said, suddenly smiling mischievously.

"Anything you need," I replied instantly.

"Can you fix my car?" Claire pleaded.

Laughing I gave her a quick kiss on the lips. She looked at me for a moment before slowly sliding off my lap. She stood in front of me and held out her hand to me.

Smiling, I took it and we walked out of her room and down the stairs holding hands the entire time. The physical pain that I'd been feeling all morning drained from my body. And yet, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

I had my friend back. I hadn't destroyed our relationship. I should be happy.

I felt depressed.

_A/N – Please review._


	20. Senior Year

**Chapter 20 - Senior Year**

Claire's POV

I looked down at the name on the application in my hand. _Cornish College of the Arts._

The school was located in Seattle. Seattle wasn't too far when I thought about it. Only five hours away. And I couldn't live in La Push forever. I was pretty positive that Aunt Emily and Uncle Sam would some day want their guest bedroom back. I mean, I never even went to Makah for summer breaks or anything anymore, so they never got their guest room back. I loved my parents and I missed my siblings, but this was home to me and the idea of leaving it broke my heart.

I glanced down at the paper in my hand. I should have filled the form out and sent it in already. Today was the deadline. If I didn't have this application sent in the mail with a postmark of today, then they wouldn't consider me.

I still couldn't believe that high school was almost done. I had prom tomorrow, graduation the following month, and in three months I'd be 18. Three months! I'd be considered legally an adult then. I could vote when I turned 18. Eighteen was such a big deal. And it would mark the end of one era in my life and the beginning of another.

But college? That was the typical next step in most people's lives. Most of my friends had already been accepted to some school. My sister Cora wasn't even in the state anymore. She had gotten accepted to Northwestern in Illinois last year. She wanted to be a lawyer. Remembering how easily she had been able to push me into manipulating Quil when we were kids, I had no doubt that she would be successful.

I had decided that I wanted to attend Cornish because they were known for their art program. I loved to draw. If I had to choose one career in life, I would love to be an animator for a company like Pixar, or I'd like to do 2-D drawings for Disney.

But did I want college or a career that much? I knew a part of me would be perfectly content to work the phones in Quil's garage, if it meant that I could stay in La Push. Just the idea of leaving tore at my heart. Sighing, I picked up my cell phone to call my boyfriend Sully.

Sully and I had been dating for the past year and a half. I loved him with all my heart. I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend. That was another thing that worried me. When we graduated, Sully planned to move to Michigan to attend the University of Michigan. He wanted to be a doctor, and they had one of the best medical programs in the country. What would I do when Sully moved?

Thinking back on my relationship with Sully, it was amazing that we had been able to get together. I had had that stupid crush on Quil for so long; I didn't think I'd ever get over him. I was lucky that my crush hadn't ruined our friendship.

I had kissed Quil, twice, and that had never gotten his attention. I had tried running away and that hadn't worked either. I had done everything to seduce him one day when we went to the beach a couple of summers ago, and he had acted like the perfect gentleman.

I remember when I had asked him to put lotion on me. His hands had felt like they were caressing me. I had been so turned on I had wanted to jump him right then and there. I thought he had been flirting with me too, but instead he had suddenly stopped touching me and had acted disgusted. He certainly had tried to get away from me fast enough. I had realized in that moment how futile my crush was.

And then, while I was sitting there feeling sorry for myself as I watched Quil swim laps in the ocean, I heard someone call my name. I looked up and there was Sully and his friend Keith. Seeing Sully had made my stomach feel like it suddenly had butterflies in it. I had always thought he was cute, but seeing him in his bathing suit, I had wanted to make out with him right then and there.

When we had the bonfire that night, all I could think of was Sully. Even when Quil showed up with Collin, I couldn't see anyone but Sully. I thought he had wanted me too, but after the bonfire he had blown me off and it had broken my heart.

It was odd how things had worked out. I had decided that I wanted to make Sully jealous by going out with Keith. Keith and I went out on a date and he had brought me home. He started kissing me and I just let it happen. I had felt uncomfortable with it having never been French kissed before. When he had moved his hand to my breast, I had recoiled and would have smacked him, but then Quil was there yelling at both me and Keith.

He had called me a whore that night, and I had cried myself to sleep, because I had known it was true. It had been wrong to let things go that far between Keith and me. And no matter how many times Quil apologized for what he had called me, it hadn't taken away the guilt I had felt.

What had been worse about the situation was that the next Monday, Keith had told everyone about how I had gone to second base with him. He had also mentioned to anyone who listened that he thought that the much older Quil had a thing for me because of the way he had acted. Sully had been so pissed off that he went right up to Keith and had punched him in the face. He had gotten a week suspension from school, but when he came back, he asked me out and we had been dating ever since.

I was about to hit Sully's number on my cell when I froze. I didn't want to disturb him. He was supposed to take me to the prom tomorrow, but he had been fighting a really bad cough and cold recently. The best thing to do was to just let him get some rest.

And a small part of me had to guiltily admit that I was a little relieved to have some space. I loved him. I especially loved kissing him. But lately Sully had been pushing for more, and I didn't really want to. I knew that some girls in my class were sexually active. One girl was even currently pregnant. But anytime we went to do more, I always froze. It just never felt right.

I didn't know why. Sully's kisses always made me feel incredible. If somewhere in the back of my mind, I heard a voice say that there was something missing, I ignored it. I loved when Sully and I would head to the lookout point where most couples my age went to make out. We would sometimes spend an hour or two just kissing, and even recently I let Sully kiss my breasts without my shirt or bra on. But that was as far as it ever went. There was a part of me that always felt like I was doing something wrong if we started to do anything more.

What was worse was that all our recent talks about having sex had triggered some really erotic dreams in me. Things that made me blush when I remembered them the next day. And what was so terrible was that every single dream never starred Sully. Every dream involved Quil.

Dreams where he would sneak into my room at night and make passionate love to me, even with the threat of my aunt and uncle down the hall. Dreams where he would walk me into the woods and would plaster me against a tree and have his wild way with me. Some dreams even involved having sex on the beach.

Once after watching a baseball game with my Uncle Sam, I had dreamt that Quil and I were having sex at the beach and a crowd started encircling us, yelling "slide into home." I had been so embarrassed by that dream I had had to avoid looking at Quil for a whole week after I had that one.

Though I could feel my face suddenly flush with heat, I put my cell phone back in my pocket and grabbed my purse and headed downstairs.

"Aunt Em, I'm going to see Quil," I yelled out.

"Okay honey," My aunt murmured somewhere in the living room.

I hopped in my car and headed towards the garage that Quil owned. As soon as I got there, I got out and headed inside the shop. Collin was in there talking to Azra and Seth. They all saw me and waved. Collin had the biggest smile on his face as he greeted me. He had been so happy-go-lucky since Lindsey had turned 18 last month, it was a little ridiculous. Actually I found it a little nauseating to be around either one of them anymore.

They had been in communication with each other since the bonfire that summer almost two years ago. Since Lindsey's birthday, they had finally "come out" as a couple. They had started to call each other stupid nicknames too. Lindsey called Collin "snooky poo" and Collin called Lindsey "turtledove." It would have been laughable except that they actually meant it; they were that in love with each other.

One night while I was out with Lindsey, Collin had called her, and they had gotten into a "no, you hang up…no, you hang up" conversation. I had finally pulled the phone out of Lindsey's hand and ended the call for both of them. Lindsey's parents had taken the relationship amazingly well, but Lindsey had surprised me by telling me that my father had gone to their house and reassured them that Collin was a respectable young man and was highly thought of within the Quileute tribe.

Looking away from Collin, I was suddenly distracted by a view of Quil through his office window that overlooked the shop floor. All I could see was his profile. He really was truly beautiful though. I would have to be blind and stupid not to notice how incredibly attractive…and manly my best friend was. If sometimes when I was kissing Sully, I pretended I was kissing Quil, who could blame me. I frowned for a second as I realized that those were the kisses I always seemed to respond to the most. Entering the office quietly, I shut the door as softly as I could.

"Hey…Seth, I've been running the numbers, and I think we'll be able to give bigger bonuses than we plan--"

I took a step forward and he stopped talking, stiffening slightly. I didn't know why I bothered to sneak up on Quil, he seemed to have sonar ears. I walked over to the desk and covered his eyes with my hands.

Lowering my voice, I gruffly said, "Give me all your money."

"Hey thief, you might want to change your perfume next time you try to sneak up on someone." Quil laughed before pulling one of my hands down to kiss the center of my palm. My stomach quivered a little at that little display of affection.

Pouting, I walked over to his desk and sat on the edge, "I'm not wearing perfume."

"It's your lotion then. You have a very floral scent." Quil laughed, leaning back in his chair to look at me.

"Does it smell bad?" I wondered.

"No, you smell really good actually," Quil said, looking at me intensely for a moment. Sometimes when he stared at me like that, it made me feel disturbed and sexy all at the same time.

"So, uh…Collin seems really happy lately," I mentioned, deciding to change the subject.

Quil's eyebrows instantly snapped together, "Yeah, he and Lindsey are going strong."

"Anything wrong with that?" I asked, somewhat surprised by the almost bitter look that suddenly appeared on Quil's face.

"I just think that Collin doesn't always think things through all the time."

"Okay, you've lost me. Lindsey's 18 now. They're both legal consenting adults, so what's the big deal?" I questioned.

Quil opened his mouth and then shut it again. He always did that…like he had some secret he wanted to share but could never get out. Sighing, Quil reached out and picked up my hand, lacing his fingers with mine.

I looked at him and felt my heart speed up in a betraying manner. Ignoring my reaction, I looked at him and smiled. He really was such a sweet guy. He had seemed kind of sad the past year or so, though he tried to hide it. I had asked him about it a few times, but he always looked pained whenever I brought it up so I stopped asking. It was kind of weird though. The moment I started having erotic dreams about him, he started getting all touchy feely with me.

Quil always seemed to find an excuse to touch me anymore. If we were walking somewhere, he would put his warm hand on the small of my back. If we were sitting on the couch, he'd put his arm around me. Even now, here we were just talking in his office, and he went out of his way to hold my hand and earlier he had kissed it. While somewhere in the stupid, dark recesses of my heart I always secretly jumped at the small interactions, my brain always reminded me that I had a perfectly good, loving boyfriend in Sully. Speaking of which…

"Sully's sick, you know. He has a really bad cold and cough." I told Quil randomly.

"Don't you have prom tomorrow?" Quil inquired. His face always looked slightly sick whenever we talked about Sully, but he was always polite to my boyfriend, though he was rarely around if Sully was.

"Yeah, but Sully said he thinks he's coming to the end of it, so we should still be able to go."

"Well, if he can't, I can take you." Quil offered.

I rolled my eyes at that, "Thanks Quil, but no thanks."

I could just imagine Quil dancing with a bunch of high schoolers. Half my class already thought Quil and I had something going on because of Keith's stupid blabbering after I had kissed him. Funny how Keith was now one of my closet friends. After Sully had decked him, we had called a truce and started hanging out with each other. I wondered momentarily how Keith and Quil would interact with each other at prom.

"Why wouldn't you want me to take you?" Quil asked in a hurt tone.

"Sorry Quil, it's just that I wouldn't want people to get the wrong idea about you and me. I mean, you're like an older brother to me."

"Oh…right," Quil said, letting go of my hand. He looked pained again.

"So anyway, the reason I'm here is this." I said, pulling the college application I had brought with me out of my purse.

Quil looked at the application and sucked in a breath, doubling over like he was suddenly punched in the stomach. His hands trembled slightly. I was a little shocked by the reaction. I ran over to him and grabbed his trembling hands in mine. They immediately stopped shaking.

"Are you okay?" I asked, worry evident in my voice.

"Yeah…yeah, I'm just a little surprised. I didn't think you were interested in college."

"Well, I've been giving it some thought. I'd like to study drawing more and this college has an excellent art program. Plus it's in Seattle, so that's not too far from home."

"But you'd be leaving La Push." Quil responded. He sounded…devastated. I squeezed his hands tighter.

"I can't live here forever. Besides, I'm sure Aunt Emily and Uncle Sam are sick of me taking up space in their house."

"No, they're not, not at all." Quil argued.

"Quil, what am I supposed to do with my life then?" I questioned. I still didn't know how committed I was to going to college. If Quil gave me one valid excuse to stay, then I would.

Quil let go of my hands and moved around his desk to go stand by the window that viewed the street outside. It was raining softly. Quil's shoulders were hunched over in a dejected manner. He stood there silently for a few minutes, before sighing and turning to look at me.

"Of course you should go for it, Claire. You're very talented. If this is what you want, then nothing should stop you."

For some reason that I didn't understand, I felt a sharp pain at Quil's response. I had basically asked him what I should do. He was saying I should leave. I nodded and slowly stood up.

"Thanks Quil for the advice,' I said. "I'm going to let you get back to work."

I went over and kissed his cheek. He in turn gave me a quick hug. I turned to leave when I heard him call my name. I looked back at him. He was still standing near the window. He opened his mouth to say something and then closed it again, wincing as he did so.

After a moment, he finally said, "I think you'll be very successful at that school."

"Thank you Quil," I replied. I didn't know why but I suddenly felt the urge to cry. Why did it feel like I was suddenly being severed in half?

I left the garage quickly and got back in my car. I stopped by the reservation's postal box and dropped off the application. I decided to head to the beach for awhile even though it was still raining. Making my way across the rocks, I looked in the distance and saw a familiar figure. Smiling, I jogged over to my cousin Nate.

"Hey, don't you know it's raining?" I joked. He smiled weakly back.

Nate was huge for a 14-year-old. He was almost as tall as my Uncle Sam now. In fact, I was pretty sure that he was taller than even Quil and Ryan. I didn't know what was going on with him, but my cousin had gone from being social and funny, to angry and quiet in the span of a year. He especially was having a hard time with his father. The tension that existed between those two was so thick that you could cut it with a knife sometimes.

Ironic that the more moody Nate became, the happier my uncle seemed. You would have thought just the opposite, but when he wasn't looking like he'd knock his son into next week, he was definitely looking cheerful. I heard him say one night something to my aunt about how it looked like he was going to get to retire soon after all, but it hadn't made sense to me. Then again, as much as I loved my uncle, I always thought there was something weird about him. Well, there was something different about all the "protectors" of La Push. Even Quil sometimes seemed so mysterious.

"What are you doing out in the rain," I asked Nate.

"Just thinking." Nate stated.

"About?"

"I don't know, just different stuff I guess." Nate responded, looking out at the water.

"You and Uncle Sam get in a fight again?" I questioned.

Nate shrugged his shoulders and said nothing. I sighed. "What is it with you two anymore?"

"That's the thing Claire, I don't know. I just can't be around him for some reason without wanting to punch him. My own father! And I don't understand why I feel this way."

"Have you tried talking to your dad?" I asked gently.

Nate snorted bitterly. "He's tried talking to me a few times, but I didn't want to hear it. It's gotten to the point where I just leave the room if he comes in."

I leaned over and hugged him. I didn't care how big he was; he was still my little cousin. Right now he seemed so confused and unsure of himself

We sat there for a long time, both lost in our own thoughts. When I started to shiver, Nate put his arm around me. Holy crap! His skin was as hot as Quil's. Looking at him, I gave him a quick hug again to try to erase the sadness on his face.

"Let's go home and get some dinner."

"S'okay," Nate nodded. We both got up and headed towards home. Home…but for how long?

I tossed and turned with that question all night. When I woke up the next day, I didn't feel like I had slept at all. But it was the day of my prom! I excitedly got to work on getting dressed. Aunt Emily did my hair in a bun. I painted my nails a delicate shade of pink. I added a silver bracelet to Quil's promise bracelet that he had given me. I also wore long silver earrings with a silver necklace that Quil had given me last Christmas.

With the basics done, I took of my robe and slid on my dress. It was perfect. It was a black flowing dress with a v-neck line and spaghetti straps. Right underneath my breasts was a large diamond shaped jewel. I loved the dress and never felt more beautiful. I glanced at the clock when I finally finished. Sully would be arriving in 10 minutes. I quickly threw on my silver sandals and went downstairs.

Aunt Emily and Gracie fussed over my dress and my aunt made sure to take a ton of pictures. I sat on the chair and arranged my dress so that it wouldn't wrinkle. I sat in the chair with a straight back, afraid that if I slouched just slightly, the dress would get a crease. Glancing at the living room clock, I was startled to realize that Sully was now 8 minutes late. I continued to sit straight in the chair, all the while chewing off my lip gloss as I waited nervously for my boyfriend to arrive.

"Maybe he went to get your corsage and there was a lineup." My aunt tried to help.

When Sully hadn't shown up after a half hour, I finally got up and called his cell phone. There was no answer. I was beginning to get worried now. Next I tried his parents' house. Sully's father answered, sounding harassed.

"Mr. Lightwood, this is Claire Young. Sully was supposed to pick me up for prom, and he hasn't shown up yet. I was just wondering if he's on his way."

"Oh Claire, I'm so sorry, I was supposed to call you. Sully's in the hospital. He came down with pneumonia last night."

"Pneumonia," I repeated, feeling sick. "Is he okay? Should I come and see him?"

"No, there's no point in coming to see him. He's really out of it right now. I'm actually on my way back to the hospital." Mr. Lightwood explained, sounding hurried.

"Oh, okay, please let Sully know I'm thinking of him," I replied despondently.

We said goodbye and I disconnected the call. I looked down at my beautiful dress that would never see its prom. I turned and saw my aunt standing there with a worried expression on her face.

"What happened?"

"Sully's in the hospital with pneumonia."

"Oh Claire…"

"I think I'm going to go upstairs and lie down." I said, already headed in that direction.

"Claire, I'm sure Quil would take you if you want."

I just shook my head and slowly made my way up the stairs. I shut the bedroom door softly and laid on my bed, still in my dress. After all, what did it matter if it wrinkled now? It wasn't like I was going to my prom now. While I felt scared for Sully, I couldn't stop the few tears of self-pity that rolled down my face.

I would find out later that my aunt called Quil.

And by the time the evening was over, our relationship would be changed…

_A/N – Thank you so much for all the comments I received on my previous chapter everyone! It was really appreciated!! The next chapter will be back in Quil's POV. _


	21. Prom Date

_A/N – The beginning of this chapter takes place the day before the prom when Claire comes to talk to Quil about college. _

**Chapter 21 – Prom Date**

Quil's POV

"I told Lindsey the truth." Collin said.

"What?" I responded, stunned. Collin had just walked into my office at the garage.

"Lindsey…she knows everything."

I sat back in my chair. "Why don't you start from the beginning?"

"I went up to see Lindsey after she got out of school today. I told her about our legends and then I phased in front of her."

"What'd she say?"

"Well, after she regained consciousness, she asked me to go to her prom with her. It's in a couple of weeks."

Collin had a somewhat confused expression on his face. I almost chuckled. Almost.

"Does she know that she's not supposed to tell anyone?" I asked.

"Yeah, I told her and had Sam talk to her too. She knows not to tell Claire…though why you don't want Claire to know is beyond us."

Us? He had said "_beyond us_." Which meant he must have told Lindsey about my imprinting on Claire. I didn't know how I felt about that.

Somewhat angrily, I said, "Claire is perfectly happy with her boyfriend. I'm not going to interfere with that. If S-Sully is what she wants, then that's that. She's allowed to have a choice. My only concern is Claire's happiness. That comes first."

Collin rolled his eyes and went out to the garage to tell Seth, Ryan, and Azra his great news. Shortly after Collin's visit, Claire came into my office. She told me that her stupid boyfriend was sick and tomorrow was her prom. I offered to take her to prom if Sully was too sick, but she said no. Her rejection hurt…painfully. I knew she meant it too. I heard the absolute sincerity in her voice. If I didn't feel like shit enough, she then told me she wanted to go away to school.

The idea of Claire going away cut me deep in my heart. I didn't want her to leave. I needed her near me. And if she went away to school, especially in Seattle, I'd never get to see her. It wasn't like she was going back to Makah where I could see her from a hiding spot in the woods. I wouldn't be able to check on her in Seattle. But if it was what Claire really wished to do, then I'd have to go along with it.

I felt a sudden urge to tell her the truth right then and there, but then I glanced at the application in her hand and realized I couldn't. Whether it killed me or not, I knew that I'd have to let Claire go if school was what she wanted. I could only hope that Claire chose to stay in La Push instead of going away to college. But with her idiot boyfriend and all her friends leaving, what would be her motivation to stay?

The only thing that gave me comfort in my conversation with Claire was that she smelled like Claire today. I could pick out her floral scent in a room full of 100 people, but ever since she started dating Sully, I could sometimes smell the stench of his cologne on her. I hated that smell. I especially hated thinking how she got that smell on her. We finished our discussion and Claire soon left.

Around 5 pm, I decided to call it a day. I went through my typical evening routine when I got home. I walked into my house, stripped out of my clothes, and went out to my backyard and phased. And then I just ran. I had started these evening runs around the same time that Claire and her moronic boyfriend became a "couple." Running helped me work out my frustrations.

It was getting harder and harder for me to deny my attraction to Claire. Did that mean I was in love with her? Possibly. Did my attraction mean that I was in lust with her? Definitely.

There were times when I wanted nothing more then to drag Claire from whichever room she was in and take her somewhere where I could have my wicked way with her. It was getting ridiculous how much I wanted her. Sometimes when I watched her, my body would react, and I'd have to leave the room before anyone noticed. It took all my willpower to not just bury myself in her in those moments. As it was, I was finding it difficult to keep my hands off her. If I could find any excuse to touch her then I did. And even though she had been dating that jackass for over a year now, she never once acted repulsed by my touch.

I kept thinking of Claire as I continued to run. It was almost 2 am before I finally made my way home. I tossed and turned all night having vivid dreams of exactly how I wanted to pleasure Claire. This particular night, I dreamt that I tied Claire's hands to a bedpost and kissed every square inch of her body. When I woke up, the need and longing I felt for Claire was painful.

"_She's your best friend, you shouldn't be having these thoughts,"_ that stupid saintly inner voice said. I was more than a little tired of that voice, especially when it added, _"don't forget, she's in love with someone else."_

Swearing, I got out of bed slowly. I decided the only way to keep my deviant thoughts off my best friend was physical labor. I did some yard work before I worked my way to the inside of the house. I gave it a cleaning like I hadn't done in years. I had a sudden feeling that something was off, but I continued to clean, moving onto the dishes. I was just finishing up when the phone rang. I dried my hands quickly and answered it.

"Quil, its Emily."

"Emily…what's wrong?" I instantly knew why I had been feeling uneasy. Something was wrong with Claire.

"Claire's prom date is too sick to take her," Emily stated.

"She doesn't want me to take her Em. I offered to take her yesterday, and she didn't even hesitate to reject the idea," I replied, still feeling hurt by that.

"Maybe you can come over and just talk to her. I mean, she's just been sitting in her room in her dress for the past half hour."

I hated the idea that my Claire was hurting and there wasn't anything I could do for her. She had been serious though when she told me she didn't want me to take her, and I couldn't go against my imprint's wishes. I suddenly got an idea that made me want to laugh.

"Listen Emily, don't let her change out of her dress…I've got an idea."

I told her my plan, before hanging up and dialing a new number. I heard a tired voice on the other end. It wasn't even 8 pm, and he was already sleeping. Pansy!

"Seth, its Quil. I need a favor…"

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My backyard was turning into a wonderland. Seth, Ryan, and I had been working hard for the past hour. We were stringing up Christmas lights on as many trees as we could. I had also placed tiki torches strategically around the yard. I only hoped that it didn't rain anytime soon. Collin had volunteered to go into Forks and pick up some dinner for Claire and me. He was also going to pick up a corsage for me to give to Claire. Since Claire didn't want me to take her to her official prom, I had decided to give her her own private prom in my backyard, complete with decorations, music, food, and flowers.

"So, are you going to tell her tonight?" Seth asked as he continued to string up lights.

"Why is it so damned important to everyone that I tell her?" I said angrily. I was more than a little sick of everyone asking me that.

"Cause you're making yourself miserable and when you're miserable, the entire pack suffers with you." Seth said simply.

"You can say that again," Ryan chimed in.

I sighed. "Look, if Claire decides to stay in La Push then I'll tell her. If not…I'll tell her someday, okay? I want her to go out and live some of her dreams first, before I tell her the truth about the pack and the whole imprinting thing. What's so wrong with wanting her to go out and enjoy herself a little? She's not even 18 yet. I want Claire to explore every opportunity presented to her before she settles down."

"What if Claire enjoys herself a little too much and ends up with someone else?" Seth inquired.

"Then it means that she and I were only ever meant to be best friends." I responded, though the idea made me feel ill. "Listen, I'm going to go inside to take a shower, can you finish this?"

"No problem," Seth said, rolling his eyes. Ryan looked at me, and I saw some pity in his expression. Ryan was a little more sympathetic, as his imprint was now 12-years-old and already acting like a teenager.

Seth wouldn't understand what I was going through though. He never imprinted. And he certainly had never imprinted on a child. He didn't have a clue how confusing my feelings for Claire were. I wanted Claire in a way that made me feel like a pervert sometimes, especially when I thought back to the days when Claire was just a toddler. But Claire was no longer a kid. And while my brain didn't always recognize the fact that she had grown up to be a beautiful woman, my body certainly did.

I quickly finished my shower and put on the suit I had worn to Jacob's wedding. I organized my appearance the best that I could and walked out into the main part of the house. I stopped as I entered the living room. Candles were lit everywhere. Walking slowly to the kitchen, I saw a tablecloth covering my table with candles set on top. I could smell lasagna coming from the counter area. Collin must have dropped off the food already. On the counter was also a bowl of punch; just the type of thing you'd see at a prom. I was amazed.

"Well, what do you think?" Seth said from behind me.

"How did you think of all of this?" I asked. This went above and beyond my expectations.

"Dude, I practically lived at the Cullens when they were still here. You learn a few things hanging out with Alice Cullen. Speaking of which, I called her to see if I forgot anything. She wants to see pictures of Claire in her dress," Seth explained before he started chuckling, "It's a good thing she lives on the other side of the country, otherwise she'd be here doing the decorations herself."

"Thank you for everything Seth," I told him sincerely. He came over and hit me in the shoulder.

"Good luck man." Seth said and then turned and left.

I took one last look around and went into the backyard. It looked incredible. Almost every tree was lit. Between the lights and the tiki torches, the backyard was bathed in warm light. A stereo was set up on the patio. I picked up a mixed CD that Seth had left behind. It was perfect for what I had in mind. Making sure all the candles were blown out before I left, I grabbed the corsage that was on the counter and walked outside.

I began to feel slightly nervous as I got in my car and headed towards Sam's house. I felt like I was going on my first date. I hoped Claire liked what we had done. Hell, I hoped she didn't refuse to come.

I arrived at Sam's and got out of my car and knocked on the front door. I waited instead of going right in like I normally would. I felt it was only polite when picking up one's prom date. Gracie opened the door.

"Wow Quil, you look hot," Gracie exclaimed, her eyes widening as she took me in.

"Yeah Quil, you're just adorable." Ryan added, laughing as he came up to us. He must have gone straight from my house to Sam's. He rested his hands on Gracie's shoulders. "Grace, you wanna let him in?"

"Are you here for Claire?" Gracie asked as she backed into Ryan so that I could come in.

"I am." I confirmed.

"She's up in her room," Emily said coming down the hall. Sam was behind her and jokingly whistled at me when he saw me.

"Shut it!" I responded.

"Good luck Quil," Emily said as I headed up the stairs.

I headed to Claire's room and knocked on the door. I didn't hear a response, but I let myself in anyway. Claire was lying on her bed, curled up in a ball. She peeked over her shoulder and looked at me. When she saw me in my suit, she immediately straightened and I saw her jaw drop.

"So…I heard what happened." I said lamely.

Claire only nodded and I began again, "I'm here to take you--"

"Quil, I don't want to go to the prom," Claire interrupted.

"I know, that's why I'm taking you somewhere else."

"I don't really want to go anywhere tonight."

"What are you going to do? Mope around in your dress all night? Don't you want to have some fun tonight?" I pushed.

Claire hesitated before smiling slightly, "What did you have in mind?"

I sat down next to her and wiped at the tear streaks on her face with my thumbs. "It's a surprise. Are you game?"

I got up off the bed and held my hand out to her. She slowly put her hand in mine and let me drag her off the bed. I felt my breath catch in my throat as I took in the dress that she was wearing.

"Claire, you look beautiful."

"Thank you," Claire blushed. Smiling, I pulled the hand I was still holding up to my mouth and gave it a gentle kiss.

"Well ma'am, your chariot awaits." I told her.

We left the house with everyone smiling and waving to us. As soon as we got in the car, I handed Claire the corsage. It wasn't anything fancy. A single rose and some baby's breath attached to a wrist band. Claire frowned when she saw it.

"Quil, I--"

"Don't worry. It's not what you think." I said, grinning from ear to ear. Claire smiled in return and slid the corsage on. We soon arrived at my house.

"Stay here for a second," I requested.

I ran into the house and quickly lit all the candles. I double checked that the table was set and that everything was ready to go. Satisfied, I went out to the car and opened the door for Claire.

"What's going on? Why are we here?" Claire asked curiously.

"You'll see." I replied, still smiling.

I was excited to see Claire's reaction. We walked into the house and Claire stopped. I stood in the middle of the kitchen and turned to face her.

"I know you had your reasons for not wanting me to take you to your prom, but I didn't want you to miss out on this opportunity. Senior prom is a once in a lifetime event. So if you're up for it, we can have your prom here. We can have some dinner. We can even do some dancing later."

Claire looked at me for a moment, and then I saw her eyes moisten. She walked over to me and threw her arms around me.

"Thank you Quil. This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me." Claire said into my neck.

"I'm glad you like it. Shall we eat?" I asked formally.

Claire let go of me and smiled up at me. I felt an incredible urge to kiss her. Instead, I held out her chair and helped her sit down. Next, I grabbed the food from the counter and gave us each a slice of lasagna along with some salad and bread rolls. I was glad to see that the lasagna was still hot. I also poured us each a glass of punch.

We sat and talked about different events going on in our lives. Claire didn't bring up her jackass boyfriend even once, much to my relief. When we were finished with dinner, I grabbed the plates and threw them in the sink.

"You up for some dancing?" I asked.

"Of course, I just hope you can keep up with me seeing as you're in your dotage." Claire smirked.

"Oh, it's so on," I replied. Claire started laughing which made me feel 10 feet high, even though she had just called me an old man. We walked outside and I heard Claire gasp as she took in all the lights.

"It's beautiful." Claire said, completely awestruck. Grinning widely, I went over to the stereo.

"Seth loaned me a couple of CDs. This one has a lot of good songs on it." I told her as I put the CD in. A fast paced song came on and I saw a smile appear on Claire's face.

"Shall we, Mr. Ateara?" Claire asked, holding out her hand to me.

I laughed and grabbed her hand and twirled her around. I watched as Claire moved to the beat, her hips swaying to the tempo. She was a good dancer I realized. We danced several songs till a slower song came on. I brought her in close. Her presence was intoxicating to me.

The song ended and another fast song came on. We spent an hour dancing under the stars, the lights from the trees illuminating the area. We stopped for a few minutes to get some punch and then we went back to dancing to some more fast music. And then another slow song came on.

I pulled her into my arms and stared down at her. I didn't think I'd be able to stop looking at her. She glanced up at me and smiled in a way that melted my heart.

"Thank you for my prom Quil. I couldn't have asked for a better one."

"You're welcome," I responded, bringing her in even closer.

The smile slowly left her face as she continued to stare into my eyes. I saw her eyes drift to my lips. She parted hers slightly. The world around me seemed to disappear in a complete haze. The sound from the stereo dimmed. The world became blurry and the only thing that I could see in brilliant clarity was Claire.

"Quil," Claire said after a moment, looking up into my eyes again. "The music's stopped."

"Did it?" I murmured. We continued to sway back and forth.

Very slowly, Claire moved her hands from my shoulders and wrapped them unsteadily around my neck. She stood up on her toes and carefully reached up until her lips were an inch from mine. I bent my head and met her the rest of the way. My lips brushed back and forth against hers until I thought I'd drive myself crazy. Her lips were so soft and delicate. The need to feel her lips melt against mine was overpowering. Drawing her bottom lip into mine, I sucked gently and heard her answering moan.

That was all it took. I grabbed the back of her head with my hands and pulled her face more firmly against mine. I parted her lips with my tongue and dove into her sweet heaven. Her tongue timidly came out to meet mine. I could feel her breasts plastered against my chest. I couldn't get enough of her mouth. I felt like a drowning man that was thrown a lifesaver. I couldn't let go. I needed to continue kissing her to survive. I moved one of my hands down her back and was about to pull her waist against my hardening body when I felt her freeze.

She slowly drew back and let go of my neck. She pulled away and I released her immediately. She wouldn't meet me in the eyes.

"I think I should go," Claire said, still not looking at me.

My heart pounded with desire and worry, "Claire--"

"Please Quil, can you take me home?" Claire pleaded.

I stared at her for a minute. It looked like she was about to cry. Oh God, did I offend her? Was she upset because of Sully? The idea of Sully experiencing what I had just tasted was enough to me want to punch the wall of my house.

"Sure," I responded, my voice sounding stiff even to my own ears.

We drove the few minutes back to Sam's in silence. As I put the car in park, I heard Claire release what sounded like a sob.

"Thanks again," she said and hurriedly got out of the car. I jumped out after her and grabbed her arm.

"Claire, I'm sorry, if I hurt you or offended you somehow." I said desperately. What if she never spoke to me again?

She looked at me with wide eyes, "You're not mad at me?"

I looked at her in confusion, "Why would I be mad?"

"I kissed you. I know you always objected to that before. I was worried that you would be upset with me again."

I tenderly took a piece of her hair that had fallen from her bun and tucked it behind her ear, "I kissed you back, you know."

"Oh…" Claire responded, glancing at me curiously.

"You were worried about my reaction. You're not upset because of Sully?"

Claire turned a slight shade of red. She dropped her head and whispered in a guilt-ridden tone, "I wasn't even thinking about Sully."

Standing under the porch light, I felt my heart speed up as I took in her beautiful face and her lips which were swollen from my kisses. She wasn't upset over Sully; she was worried about our relationship. Joy spread through me.

Before either of us knew what I was intending, I bent down and wrapped my arms around her waist, lifting her so that her head was inches from mine. Her body rested completely against me. I knew she felt my hardness by her sudden intake of breath. Leaning in, I licked her lips until they parted. This time there was no hesitancy as her tongue came out to mate with mine. Reluctantly, I broke off the kiss and move my mouth to her ear. Pulling gently on her ear lobe with my lips, I licked the sensitive area and then blew some cool air on it. I smiled as I felt Claire shiver.

I moved my head back slightly and whispered into her ear, "Has anyone ever told you that you worry too much? It's not healthy."

Pulling away, I released Claire and looked down at her. She had a stunned expression on her face.

Chuckling, I turned and left.

_A/N – So I know that some of you were expecting sex or "the truth" in this chapter, but I've got other plans for these two…hehe. _


	22. Letting Go

_**Preface**_

_No one ever said imprinting was easy. You imprint on someone and your whole world changes. The world that you knew ceases to exist, and you realize that you're only put on this planet for one single purpose. To love, cherish, and protect that particular person no matter what the cost. And you know you'd do anything for her. Including letting her go. _

**Chapter 22 – Letting Go**

Quil's POV

"Claire, I have something to tell you, and please don't say anything until I'm done speaking. You see, we have some Quileute legends that you might have heard of. It's said that we descend from wolves. Well, it true. Claire, I can phase into a wolf. A lot of people that you know can do the same thing: your Uncle Sam, Collin, Seth, Ryan…a lot of the guys you've seen hang around the house. We're all in a pack. And there's something else I have to tell you. I imprinted on you when you were two. I know…what's imprinting, right? Imprinting is our way of finding our other half. What's that? You want me to call the guys in the white coats to take me away? Sure thing."

I stared at my reflection in the mirror and sighed. I reached out with my towel and wiped away the condensation that my shower had left on the mirror. I had decided after last night's prom, that I'd tell Claire the truth and damn the consequences. Maybe I'd even be able to figure out if I was in love with Claire, and if she felt anything for me in return. Hell, even if she wasn't in love with me, I felt pretty confident that she was at least attracted to me.

Normally I didn't give a damn about how I looked, but I made sure to fix my hair today, and then I put on my best gray t-shirt and khaki pants. After all, today was a special occasion. It was time to tell Claire everything.

I was more nervous than I would have thought possible. I didn't know how Claire would react. I didn't even know if it was completely fair for me to tell her. I wanted to tell her everything for purely selfish reasons.

The truth was that I wanted Claire, even if it was in the most basic way. After last night, there was no turning back in our relationship. She knew that I wanted her; she had felt my desire for her. I couldn't put us back in the "friends" category, and honestly I didn't even want to.

But I still didn't know how I was going to tell her everything. Did I just say it bluntly, "Hey Claire, guess what…we're destined to be together, and I've known it since you were two?" I could just hear her saying, "Get away from me you freaking pervert."

Still, I knew that Claire was aware that something was different about me, Ryan and Sam. Since she had moved here, she had witnessed all of us acting suspiciously. She had even commented to Emily about it a couple of Christmas's ago. Hopefully it would be enough to convince her that what I had to say was true.

I decided to walk to Sam's house, hoping to come up with a good explanation for everything by the time I got there. When I arrived at the house, I had a rough idea of what I was going to say to Claire. I knocked on the front door once and walked in, nervously wiping my hands on my pants. I walked into the kitchen and saw Sam there reading the newspaper.

"Hey," I said, pulling out a chair and sitting at the table with Sam.

"Hey Quil, how'd it go last night with the prom?"

"Good, we had fun," I replied, feeling my cheeks start to burn slightly. Fun was an understatement.

Sam eyed me suspiciously. "Am I going to want to patrol with you anytime soon? Cause I have to be honest with you Quil, I don't really want any intimate details of you and my niece running through my head."

"Umm, you probably don't want to patrol with me anytime soon," I admitted sheepishly. I watched as Sam's eyebrows snapped together and a frown appeared on his face. "Don't worry, all we did was kiss."

"Oh, okay then," Sam responded, his face relaxing.

I laughed, "What are you going to do when it's Gracie and Ryan's turn?"

"Please don't remind me," Sam said in a disgruntled tone. "Hopefully, I'll be long retired before they get to that point."

"Poor Nate," I replied in a low voice.

"Yeah, I don't relish what he's going to have to deal with." Sam answered equally as quiet. I looked in the direction of the living room where I could see Nate slouched in a recliner chair.

"Anymore changes?" I asked.

"Not really. He's grown a little taller again, and the other day he got so mad at me he started to shake. All we need is a vampire in the area, and I think he'll phase. Hopefully that won't happen though."

I saw the look of concern on Sam's face. "Hey, Collin and Brady phased when they were 14, and they turned out okay."

"Yeah," Sam murmured still looking lost in thought. He turned and focused on me. "So what brings you over here so early? It's not even 10 am yet."

Lowering my voice to a whisper, I looked around before saying, "I've decided to tell Claire the truth."

"Oh," Sam said in a somewhat surprised tone before saying again, "Oh."

"What?" I asked, not liking the sound of that second "oh." It sounded like he knew something that I didn't know, and I wasn't going to like what he had to say. Turned out I was right.

"Claire's not here, she left early this morning." Sam said, folding the newspaper he was reading.

"Where is she?" I asked, but I had a sinking feeling that I knew the answer.

"She's at Sully's. I guess they released him first thing this morning from the hospital, and she's been with him ever since."

"Oh…okay," I said, feeling crushed.

"You're more than welcome to wait for her Quil, but I don't know what time she'll be home."

"Yeah, I think I will wait."

We got up from the table and went into the living room where Nate was. Nate took one look at his dad and left the room. Sam sighed and sat down in the chair that Nate had just vacated.

"You two doing okay?" I questioned.

"No, but we will be." Sam said staring listlessly at the TV.

I slouched down on the couch and just sat there. I hardly moved for the next five hours as I waited for Claire to come home. When it was finally dinnertime, I got up slowly from the couch and decided to leave.

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" Emily offered.

"Thank you, but no," I replied, feeling slightly depressed. "I think I'm gonna go home and go for a run. Will you let Claire know I stopped by?"

"Sure," Emily said, squeezing my arm.

I went home and quickly phased, running as fast as I could through the woods. Today did not go as I planned, but there was always tomorrow.

Except as it turned out tomorrow didn't happen either. Neither did the day after that, or the day after that. Because Claire began to avoid me. And the thing was I couldn't even be pissed about it. Ever since we kissed, the dynamics of our relationship had changed completely. I was more attuned to Claire than I had ever been before. Even with her giving me the silent treatment, I could sense why see was acting the way she was.

She was feeling guilty. While her boyfriend of one and a half years had been lying sick in the hospital, she had barely thought of him while she'd been out with me, kissing me. Claire was a fair person, and yet she was afraid of hurting Sully by admitting what she had done. Was there even a point of telling him? He was going to be moving out of state soon for school anyway. I knew she was conflicted, and it was eating her up inside.

And no matter how hard she tried to be a good girlfriend to Sully, she couldn't hide her desire for me. On the occasions that we would see each other, she would blush and look away, but not before I would glimpse the fire that was now in her eyes whenever she looked in my direction. She couldn't hide it, and I sure as hell wasn't doing anything to hide how much I wanted her. Whenever I did get time with her, I flirted and teased her as much as I could. And there were even a few times where she'd forget her guilt and commitment to Sully, and she would tease and flirt back. But I never could find the right time to tell her the truth.

A week before she graduated from high school she received her acceptance letter to the Cornish College of the Arts. She announced it one day while we were all eating dinner together at Sam's house. While I had been continuously staring at her, she looked around the table, avoiding looking in my direction, and blurted out that she was going away to school. I couldn't leave the house quickly enough that night. As soon as I had gotten home, I had phased and gone deep into the woods and howled most of the night.

I felt like a little piece of me died after she announced that she was going to leave La Push. I even put up with Claire clinging to Sully for the entire summer after they graduated from high school. I was trying to condition myself for the day when Claire would no longer be there.

Shortly after Claire's 18th birthday, Sully and Claire broke up. They decided that it was better to break up than to try to maintain a long distance relationship. I knew that Claire was upset about it too. Her heart was genuinely broken over the guy, and my heart hurt because of her pain.

But Claire threw herself into preparing for college. A week before she was to leave for school, Claire started packing up her room. Everything she wasn't taking with her to school was sent back to her parents' house in Makah.

Finally, the day I had been dreading arrived. Claire was leaving La Push to start a next chapter in her life. A chapter that wouldn't include me. I volunteered to move Claire to Seattle. Her parents were going to follow in a separate car. Both cars were filled with all of Claire's items that she was bringing with her to school.

Claire had decided to ride in my car for the five hour trip. It turned out to be some of the best hours of my life. We talked and laughed like we always did before we had kissed and our relationship had been changed. And we did our very best to ignore the sexual tension that was radiating out of both of us.

We finally arrived at the school and headed towards the dorm Claire had been assigned to. After checking in and getting her keys, we headed towards her room. As we passed several different doors, I noticed that the names of the rooms' occupants were listed on a colorful piece of paper next to the room number. I did not feel comforted by the situation, when I realized that her dorm was co-ed.

We passed a guy with shagging hair that looked at Claire and nodded at her, saying "What's up?" He even winked at her. He started to smile, when he looked over at me. I didn't know how I looked, but the punk put his head down and walked by us quickly.

Finally, we reached the room that had been given to Claire. I froze as I looked at the names on the door. "Claire/Jessica."

Jessica? That name reminded me of my ex-girlfriend, the only girl I had ever slept with. It seemed like a bad omen that Claire would be living with a Jessica.

A few seconds later the door opened and a petite girl suddenly appeared. I instantly relaxed as I took in this non-threat. She had to be about 5 feet tall and had brown hair that reached her shoulders. I couldn't tell what color her eyes were though, because like all females, this Jessica was blurry to me. I took that as a good sign. Blurry meant no pain; no drama.

"Hi y'all. You must be Claire," Jessica said in a thick southern accent. She held out her hand and Claire shook it.

"Nice to meet you," Claire responded shyly.

"Oh lord, I made such a mess in here. My parents were in a rush to head back to Arkansas, so we kind of just threw everything in the room. I was about to get some food when you arrived, but let me move some stuff out of the way."

Jessica walked into the room and we followed. There was hardly enough room for one person in the dorm, let alone two. There were two desks that were connected to each other on one side of the room and bunk beds on the other. There was also a closet and a bathroom that adjoined to another dorm room. Jessica chatted amicably as she shoved her stuff to one corner of the room. She soon left and we began to unpack both cars.

The cars were quickly emptied and Ronnie and Stacy hugged their daughter and said their goodbyes. Stacy kept crying and hugging Claire and blubbering about how her baby was all grown up. Ronnie finally dragged Stacy out and it was just me and Claire. Claire went to lean against her windowsill.

"I guess I should get going too," I said reluctantly.

"Okay," Claire replied, looking at me sadly.

I went over and hugged her tightly, before pulling back slightly. I couldn't help myself. I cupped my hand under her chin and tilted her head up and kissed her swiftly on the lips. I started to pull away, but Claire wrapped her arms around my back and stood on her toes and reached up for my lips again.

I leaned down and kissed her again, parting her lips with mine, and letting my tongue taste the sweetness of hers. I didn't know how long we kissed before I finally pulled back, resting my forehead against hers. Claire was breathing as hard as I was. I hated the idea of leaving her, but she had chosen college, and I wouldn't deny her this experience for anything in the world.

"If you need anything, anything at all, call me and I'll be here before you know it." I promised. Getting to Seattle in wolf form would maybe take a half hour if that.

"Okay Quil," Claire responded and I saw the tears spill out from the corners of her eyes.

Groaning, I bent down and kissed the tears away before I kissed her now closed eyelids. I made my way down to her mouth again and ran my tongue along her lips. She parted them instantly so that our tongues could meet again. Somewhere in the distance, I could hear her roommate's thick accent getting louder as she was shouting to someone down the hall. I knew that she was on her way back, so using all the strength I possessed, I pulled away from Claire. Kissing her on the top of her head, I turned to leave.

"Quil," Claire said suddenly.

"Yeah," I replied, turning back to her.

"I'm really going to miss you," Claire responded.

"I'm going to miss you too Claire-bear." I told her. Claire smiled in return.

I took in the vision of Claire standing next to her window with the sun's rays surrounding her. Her skin seemed to glow. I felt my heart unexpectedly lurch. It suddenly hit me with absolute clarity.

My grandfather had been right and wrong. He said that when I realized I was in love with Claire it would either hit me like lightening, or my feelings would change slowly over time from best friends to romantic love, and I would just know and accept that I had fallen in love with her. I realized that both had happened to me

As I stood in that dorm room, I knew in that moment beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I was completely, desperately in love with Claire. But I also realized I had been falling in love with her for years. I couldn't pin point exactly when I started falling for her. Maybe it was the night of her prom or when she first started dating Sully, and I had wanted to kill the kid. Or perhaps it went back even farther to when she was almost 16, wearing a black bikini, and asking me to put lotion on her.

Then again, my feelings might have started to change even earlier then that. I wondered briefly as I stared at Claire if our relationship had begun to alter the night she had run away when she was 15. When I had finally found Claire after she had disappeared, all I had wanted to do was hold her close to me, kiss her, and never let her go. Maybe that was when my feelings first started to change. I knew I hadn't been in love with her back then, but that event might have triggered the process of our relationship changing from friends to something more complex.

"Don't forget to call me at least once a week and email me every day if you can," I practically begged.

Claire nodded and I made my way back over to her. I leaned down and kissed her tenderly on her lips. With difficulty, I broke away and turned and left the dorm, knowing that I had left my heart behind with my imprint. I knew that it wouldn't be whole again until I had Claire back in La Push, hopefully in my arms. As much as it pained me, I continued to walk until I was outside in the fresh air.

My heart begged me to go back and tell her the truth, to claim her as I was supposed to, but my head forced me to keep walking away. If I told Claire the truth now and she came back with me, I'd never know if it was because she felt obligated to be with me, or if it was because she truly loved me. I wanted her to know what was in her heart before I said anything to her. And I wanted her to have the experience of college. I couldn't take that away from her.

There was an expression: _if you love something let it go free. If it doesn't come back, you never had it. If it comes back, love it forever._

I knew that my love for Claire would never change. It would last forever. If she someday realized that she was in love with me too, only then would I tell her everything. Because then I would know that she was truly mine and she loved me for me, and not because of what I had told her.

As I walked across the campus, I spotted four guys playing Frisbee. They weren't wearing shirts. I hated the idea that Claire might find one of those guys attractive. I felt a pang as I realized that Claire might still choose someone else.

I kept on walking though, even as I felt rippling pain throughout my body. I got in my car and drove away. I felt like I was being ripped to shreds. I loved Claire enough to let her go. College was what she wanted. Her happiness would always come before my own desires and needs. Because that was what imprinting was all about.

No one ever said imprinting was easy.

_A/N – There! He finally admitted that he was in love with her. Sorry for dragging it out, but for one thing, I needed Quil to have time to fall in love with her. Having it happen too soon didn't make sense to me given they were friends for so long. And another reason I didn't have him realize he was in love with her earlier was because I had this scene planned in my head since the beginning of this story. I hope you're happy with it. _


	23. Surprise Call

_A/N – This chapter contains underage drinking. (If you don't live in the States, the drinking age here is 21.) If this subject matter offends you, please skip this chapter. _

**Chapter 23 – Surprise Call**

Quil's POV

Having Claire away at college wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I thought that I would be in agonizing pain because my imprint wasn't around. Instead, I was able to function pretty much as normal. It probably had something to do with the fact that not a day went by that I didn't hear from Claire.

Claire and I talked on the phone a couple of times a week, and we emailed each other several times a day. It didn't matter if the emails were long, or if they were just a short email that said "thinking of you." Any form of communication kept me going. And we were so in tune with each other now that I always knew when she was going to call. On more than one occasion, I would grab my cell phone, and it'd ring seconds later with Claire on the other end.

Most importantly, Claire was loving college life. Her classes were everything she had hoped for. She had adjusted well to school, and she and her roommate, Jessica, got along great. She had also gotten a job within walking distance from campus. She was happy, and because I could sense it, I walked around in a happy mood most of the time. Seth of all people said that I was even beginning to annoy _him_, because I was always humming or joking around at work.

I also always knew when Claire had a major project to turn in or a test coming up, because I would begin to feel anxious. I would try to send her an email telling her not to worry, or I'd call her cell phone and would tell her that she was brilliant. I'd do anything I could to make sure my imprint was happy and feeling confident.

I made sure to call her cell phone only though, because I never knew what I'd find if I called the phone in her dorm room, and she very rarely used it anyway. One time I made the mistake of calling her dorm phone and I never did it again. On that particular day, I hadn't been able to get a hold of Claire on her cell, and I had wanted to find out how she did on a test she had been worried about. When I called her dorm, a strange male voice had answered. The fury and jealousy I'd felt had been indescribable.

"What?" The man had asked impatiently. I'd heard a groan in the background. It didn't take a genius to figure out what I had interrupted.

"Is Claire there?" I'd asked, barely able to contain my anger.

"She's not here," the man had practically shouted at me.

Then I'd heard Jessica's voice clearly state in her heavy accent, "BD, you better hang up that damn phone and give me my orga--"

I had hung up the phone immediately. When I'd finally gotten a hold of Claire on her cell, I embarrassingly admitted that I'd interrupted her roommate having sex. Claire had just laughed.

"Well, I don't care what Jessica does, as long as I don't have to walk in and see anything."

"So Jessica's dating already?" I'd asked. What I had wanted to ask was if Claire was involved with anyone.

"Yes, she's dating Bryant Patrick Douglas the third. His family owns an art museum in downtown Seattle. They're big names in the art scene. Jessica met BD when he came to her class to give a lecture."

"And what about you?" I'd finally asked, not giving a shit about Jessica's love life. "Anyone interest you yet?"

Claire had paused and I'd felt my heart freeze. "No…after dating Sully for as long as I did, I've decided to take a break."

I'd felt instant relief and had quickly switched topics. Other than that awkward moment, everything was going smoothly for me and my imprint. Ironically, the bond between us seemed to be stronger than ever, even though she was practically across the state. There was something very freeing in realizing that I was in love with Claire. I didn't feel confused anymore about my feelings, and our connection seemed 10 times more powerful because of how I felt.

Life seemed almost perfect. So it came as a surprise one Friday night, when I started to feel like something was off. The feeling began while I was sitting in my living room watching a late night movie. Looking at the clock on the DVD player, I realized that it was almost 1 am. Getting this strange urge, I reached over to the table where I had my cell phone and picked it up. Seconds later, the phone rang. Glancing down at the caller ID, I wasn't surprised at all to see that Claire was calling me. What worried me though was the fact that she was calling so late. Was she hurt?

"Hello?" I asked, holding my breath.

"QWIILLLL, Qwilie Qwil." Claire's voice sung out. It took me less than half a second to realize Claire was drunk off her ass. Oh, what in the living hell?

"Hey, Quil…Claire tinks you're hot," I heard Jessica's inebriated voice shout in the background, followed by a "shhhh." Then Claire started to laugh hysterically.

"Qwil, guess what I'm doing?" Claire said after she calmed down.

"I think I can guess." I responded dryly.

"Yep, I've been drinkin…but shh, don't tell anyone." Claire blubbered. "Qwil, you know someting…you're so great. I love you."

My heart sped up at this, but returned to normal pace when Claire continued, "You're the bestest friend anyone could eber ask for."

"Clare honey, where are you right now?" I asked.

"Universidy of Washingon, baby!" Claire said, laughing. "And I'm at some fart…fat…frat house."

"Do you and Jessica have a ride home?" I asked, praying that neither one of them had gotten hold of a car. Freshman weren't allowed to bring their cars onto Claire's school campus, so I didn't know if I had to be too worried about them driving anywhere as neither should have had access to a car.

"Jessie's BD is drivin," Claire mumbled. "Hey Qwil…guess wha? I jus realized someting. I don't know where Jessie went."

"You're by yourself?" I practically shouted, standing up.

"No silly…there's dis really nice guy who says I can crash in his room."

"Claire, go out to the front of the building, and I'll be there in a half hour."

"Qwil, you commin to rescue me?" Claire slurred.

"Just do what I say and DON'T go with that guy."

"'Kay Qwillie. I gonna sit right outside daer." I heard Claire giggle and then the phone disconnected.

Swearing profusely, I ran outside and stripped off my shorts and t-shirt. I tucked my cell phone in my shorts' pocket and tied my clothes to the leather band around my leg. Quickly phasing, I took off and ran faster than I had ever run before. It took me 25 minutes to get to Seattle. Even when I reached the border, I didn't phase back. I ran in the shadows, following the pull to my imprint.

When I got close enough to the campus, I phased back and threw on my clothes. Pulling out my cell phone, I tried calling Claire, but her phone went straight to voicemail. If some guy was taking advantage of her drunkenness, I would rip the arms off his body and would beat him with them.

I closed my eyes briefly and tuned into my senses. I felt the pull grow even stronger. I immediately followed the connection I felt and headed to where I knew Claire was. I soon came upon a house that was two stories high. It was an ugly green color and had some Greek lettering on it. Looking around, I saw Claire sitting on the ground in front of the house with her legs folded underneath her. There was some guy sitting and talking next to her, but she didn't seem to be paying attention to him.

"Claire," I called out. Claire looked up and a smile broke out across her face.

"Qwwwwil!" Claire shouted, getting wobbly up to her feet. The guy she was sitting with grabbed her arm to steady her when it looked like she was about to fall back down. Turning, she looked at the guy and said, "Tank you Derek for sittin wit me."

"It's Dan," the guy said looking slightly disgruntled.

"Claire," she responded, poking herself in the chest with her finger. She was completely oblivious to the fact that she just called the guy the wrong name.

"Yeah, you told me already." Dan said, getting up.

"Did I?" Claire said looking confused for a minute, "Well, tank you David but my boyfriend is hwere."

My heart leapt at hearing her call me that even though I knew she was drunk. I went over and wrapped my arm around her waist. Dan took one look at me, opened his mouth to say something, and quickly changed his mind and walked away.

"So where'd Jessica go?" I asked as we walked.

"Oh, she and BD founded me after you called. I told dhem dhat you were on your way, so dhey went back to the party." Claire blabbered. "Oh, I gotta call her and let her know you came."

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and hit a number on it. After a minute, she left a message for Jessica letting her know that she left with me. Claire and I continued to walk after she put her phone back in her pocket. We finally reached the edge of the campus where there was a park bench. I sat us both down. With one arm wrapped around Claire, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called information. They connected me to a cab company, and I ordered a taxi to come pick us up.

"Qwil, you're always rescuin me," Claire sighed, resting her head against my shoulder. "You're my h-hero."

"That's nice to hear," I chuckled. Man, was she going to feel sick tomorrow.

"Qwilie," Claire said softly. She reached up and grasped both sides of my face.

I smiled as I watched her forehead furrow as she tried to focus on my features. She closed her eyes and puckered up her lips and leaned towards me. Seconds later, her head fell against my shoulder and I heard a soft snore come out of her. Great, she had passed out.

The cab soon arrived and I picked up Claire and gently placed her inside. I settled in next to her and gave the driver the name of Claire's dorm. We reached our destination within minutes. I was relieved to see that I had my wallet with me and was able to pay for the driver. Carrying Claire into the dorm, we made our way to her room.

"Claire…" I said, putting her feet down so that she was standing. She slumped against me. "Claire, honey, I need you to wake up.

When she didn't respond, I repeated her name, grabbing her chin so that I could look into her face. I felt like a heel, but I couldn't help myself. I leaned down and kissed her. It had been over a month since I saw her last. I could taste the alcohol on her lips. Sighing, I pulled away. Shaking her gently, I called her name again. Claire's eyes fluttered open.

"Claire, do you have a key on you?"

"In my pocket," Claire responded. She suddenly turned pale. "Quil, I think I'm gonna be sick."

Swearing under my breath, I shoved my hand in her pocket. I heard the material rip. I found her key and forced it into the lock. The door clicked open, and I grabbed Claire around the waist and pulled her into the room. I flipped the light switch on and pushed Claire into the bathroom.

We made it just in time. Claire emptied the contents of her stomach in the toilet. I ran over and grabbed her hair and held it out of her face. I tried not to gag as the scent hit my heightened sense of smell. Claire finished and weakly reached up and flushed the toilet. Groaning, she leaned back against the wall. Looking around, I found a washcloth and wet it down with cool water and handed it to her. Claire wiped her face and then forced herself up off the floor.

Walking over to the sink, she brushed her teeth and then rinsed her mouth out with mouthwash. Not meeting my eyes, she went into her room and collapsed on the bed. I noticed that the girls had un-bunked their bunk beds. Claire had her bed near the window and Jessica's was on the opposite side of the room. I went over to the bed and reached under her pillow where I knew she kept her pajamas. I pulled out a long t-shirt that said _Cornish College of the Arts _on it.

"Claire, is Jessica supposed to be back tonight?"

Claire shook her head no. I sighed. I couldn't leave Claire in this condition. What if she got sick again and needed my help? Making my decision, I looked over at Claire again.

"Can you change into your nightshirt by yourself?" I asked.

"Mmm."

"Okay, I'm going to use the restroom, I'll be right back," I told her and left so that she could have some privacy to change.

I gave her five minutes before I walked back into the room. I froze as I took in the sight before me. Claire had no problem getting undressed, but she had passed out again before she had finished putting her clothes back on. She was lying on her bed, with one foot hanging over the edge of her mattress. She had managed to keep her panties on, but her bra had disappeared along with the rest of her clothes.

I stood completely transfixed as I stared at Claire's naked breasts. It was the first time I'd ever seen them. Like the rest of her body, they were perfect. There was nothing I wanted to do more than to go over and feel them in my hands and taste them in my mouth. But I couldn't do that to Claire, especially given her current state.

Walking over to the bed, I could see her nightshirt underneath her. I pulled it out from under her and cursed when my hand accidentally brushed against her left breast. I made myself think of vampires, which took away any sexual urges I was starting to feel. I sat down on the bed and sat Claire up against me and pulled her shirt over her head. I managed to get her arms through the sleeves, and then I gently placed her head against her pillow. I reached down and made sure that both of her legs were on the mattress.

Debating with myself, I finally decided the best thing to do was to sleep in Claire's bed with her. After all, what if she needed me in the middle of the night? I turned her gently on her side, and laid down next to her so that my chest was against her back. Wrapping my arm around her, I held her close, feeling completely at peace. Within minutes, I was fast asleep.

I woke up when I felt something shove at me. I jerked my head up, startled. Frowning, I saw that it was still dark outside. I felt a shove on my arm again and glanced down. Claire was still sleeping but she was trying to get my arm off of her. I also could see that she was sweating. Cursing myself for forgetting that I was pretty much a toaster oven, I got off the bed and went and opened up the room's window. Claire settled back down into a deep sleep, and I cautiously laid down next to her with my back flat against the mattress.

I tried not to touch her, but as soon as I was settled, Claire rolled over on her side so that she was facing me. In her sleep, she wrapped her arm around my waist and put her face into my neck. It reminded me so much of when she used to sleep like that when she was a kid. Only she wasn't a kid anymore. I could feel her breasts pressed against me, even through our shirts. I ignored the direction my mind and body wanted to go and focused on something mundane like timetables. The constant counting made me finally drift back to sleep.

The next time I woke up was because I heard a groan. I instantly reached for Claire and felt her arm. Opening my eyes, I could see her looking at me in shock. Seconds later, she covered her mouth and crawled over me. She ran into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. I could hear her vomiting again. I got off the bed quickly and made my way to the door.

"Claire, do you want me to come in there?"

"No," I heard her grunt, before the sound of more throwing up greeted me.

Minutes later, Claire came out of the bathroom and made her way back to her bed. She crawled under her sheets and threw them over her head.

"I'm never, _ever_, drinking again." Claire swore.

Chuckling, I sat down at the end of her bed. She peeked out from under her sheets and eyed me warily.

"Aren't you going to yell at me? Tell me I was irresponsible?" Claire asked.

"I think you're being punished enough," I snickered.

"Did I call you last night?" Claire frowned in confusion.

"I believe the term is drunk dialed, and yes you did."

"Oh God," Claire groaned and threw the covers back over her head. Still under the covers she mumbled, "Did I say anything embarrassing."

"No," I assured her. Technically, it was true too. Jessica was the one who said that Claire thought I was "hot."

"Did you drive here?" Claire asked.

"Would you believe I ran?"

"Funny Quil." Claire said before she groaned again.

"Do you have any bread?" I asked.

"Bread?" Claire questioned, looking at me again.

"Bread helps soak up any left over alcohol and some of the acids in your stomach." I explained.

"No, but there's a bagel shop on campus."

"Why don't you get dressed, and we'll go get some breakfast."

"Ugh…okay." Claire said before getting out of her bed slowly.

She went over to her dresser and pulled out some skimpy underwear and a matching bra. I wanted to avert my eyes but I was instantly reminded of Claire's naked breasts from last night. Claire turned and made her way to the closet where she grabbed a sweatshirt and jeans. She went into the bathroom.

Glancing around, I noticed her sketch book on her desk. Flipping through to the first page, I saw that she had drawn a picture of First Beach. It was incredibly detailed. When I flipped to the next page I froze. It was a picture of me. She had drawn me with my arms folded over my naked chest. I looked at the face and was amazed at how well she had captured me. There was sadness in the face that I didn't like to see though. Still, I was cheered by the fact that she was thinking about me enough to draw this picture.

I heard the shower stop and I shut the book. Claire came out several minutes later. She hadn't bothered with make-up, which I actually preferred. I thought Claire was beautiful when she did the "natural" look.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Aren't you going to put on some shoes?" Claire asked.

Dammit! "I forgot to grab them."

"Wow, you were in a hurry." Claire said. "We can stop by the campus store. I think I can get you some flip-flops in there."

"Oh great…flip-flops." I muttered.

"Hey, beggars can't be choosers." Claire replied as we exited her dorm. She questioned again, "So, how _did_ you get here last night?"

"I told you I ran," I told her truthfully.

"Fine, be a putz," Claire responded, rolling her eyes.

"So did you find out what grade you got on that drawing you did?" I asked.

We continued to talk as we headed towards the store. Claire grabbed my hand as we walked across campus. I felt ten feet high. When we got to the building that housed the store, I had to wait outside as they had a dress code of shoes required before entering. Several minutes later, Claire came out with some flip-flops that were just slightly too short for my feet. She had bought the largest size she could find, but everything about my body was so large, it was hard to find anything that fit.

We headed to the bagel shop next. Claire got a bagel and a strong cup of black coffee. I bought two pastries, a bagel with scrambled egg on it, two oranges, an apple, a bottle of orange juice, and a bottle of water. It would be enough to tide me over for the next couple of hours. Claire nibbled on her bagel, and her color soon started to turn back to normal.

When it got close to 11 am, we headed back to Claire's dorm. Claire had to work at 12 pm. I sat on her bed as she went into the bathroom to change into her uniform. When she was ready, I walked her to her place of employment.

"You do have a ride home, right?" Claire questioned as we stood outside the building that she worked in.

"Yeah," I replied, reaching out to glide the back of my hand down her cheek.

"Thank you Quil for everything you did last night," Claire said, before adding, "even if I don't remember what happened. I always know I'll be okay with you there."

"You're welcome." I responded, leaning in to kiss her forehead.

Claire reached her arms around my neck and looked up. I didn't even hesitate. I bent my head and worshipped her lips with mine over and over again. Finally, we broke apart so that Claire could get to work.

"Call me again the next time you decide to pull a stunt like this," I told her. Claire groaned in response.

Laughing, I gave her one more swift kiss and turned and left.

_A/N – This wasn't the chapter I originally planned to post next, but when I thought back to my first year of college away from home, I may or may not have done the same thing that Claire did. *cough* Anyway, I decided to give Claire a stereotypical college experience. _


	24. Something Exciting

**Chapter 24 – Something Exciting**

Quil's POV

I hadn't been this excited for the holidays since I was a little kid. Claire was spending tonight, Christmas Eve, in La Push. She'd had to work the first few days of her winter break, but she had asked for Christmas Eve through New Year's Eve off. She was spending tonight at Sam and Emily's and then the whole family was going to Makah first thing tomorrow morning.

I had driven to Seattle first thing this morning to pick her up. The drive back had taken longer than usual due to the snowy road conditions, but that had given us more time to talk. Claire had told me about a couple of grades she had received and about the different presents she had bought for everyone, although I couldn't get her to tell me what she had gotten me. I was feeling incredibly nervous to give her my present, but I was also eager to see her expression.

It took us an extra hour to get home, but we made it back safely. I grabbed Claire's bag that was full of presents and her suitcase for her. Thanks to my extra sensory hearing, I could hear shouting from the inside of the house. I frowned as I stared in that direction. What the hell was going on? We opened the door and saw Gracie and Sam glaring at each other like opponents in a boxing ring.

Sam folded his arms across his chest, "Is that Oliver kid going to be there?"

I saw Ryan standing just slightly behind Sam. He looked torn between protecting his imprint and lecturing her like her father was. I chuckled. I was so glad I wasn't in the big brother/best friend phase anymore.

"He _might _be there," Gracie answered in a disrespectful tone.

"I want you home by 9 pm then." Sam responded.

"But dad, it's a New Year's Eve party! And it's not like I'm going to Forks. The party's at Alyssa's, which is only a couple of miles away."

"Fine, then you can stay out until 10 pm. You're only 12, New Year's Eve or not, you don't need to be out that late." Sam argued.

"Mom!" Gracie yelled, sending a pleading look to her mom. Emily was standing in the entrance to the kitchen with an amused look on her face. She looked at Sam and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Ok, fine, 11 pm, but no later." Sam said firmly.

"Dad, you're stifling my womanhood!" Gracie declared dramatically before stomping up the stairs and slamming her bedroom door.

Sam went over to the staircase and shouted up, "Well, I've got a newsflash for you. You're not allowed to be a woman until YOU TURN 30!"

Sam turned around and saw Claire standing in the hall. In a completely calm voice, he said "Claire, how was the drive, honey?"

He came over and gave Claire a quick hug. Emily soon followed. Sam grabbed Claire's bag of presents out of my hand and took them into the living room. I put Claire's suitcase next to the stairs where Ryan was sitting. I figured he'd stay there until his imprint stopped pouting and came back downstairs.

"So how's school going?" Emily asked as we all sat down.

Sam sat in his recliner with Emily sitting on the arm of his chair. Nate joined us and sat on the carpet as far away from his father as he could get. Claire and I sat on the couch right next to each other. Claire picked up my hand and brushed her fingers over mine in what seemed an almost nervous gesture.

"Well, I actually have something exciting to tell everyone. I was going to wait until tomorrow, but I can't wait anymore." Claire said, looking suddenly ecstatic. "I've been offered a chance to study for 10 weeks this summer with Disney Animation in Burbank, California. I'll get to study with the same animators who did _The_ _Little Mermaid_ and _Aladdin_."

"That's cool Claire," Nate said enthusiastically.

Sam and Emily both glanced at me briefly before offering their congratulations to their niece. I sat frozen, feeling sick. I thought I'd at least have Claire back for the summer. Seattle was bad enough, but California? Why couldn't she just choose to stay here with me?

"Quil, what do you think?" Claire asked, looking at me with such high expectations that the only thing I could say was, "You should go for it Claire."

Claire let out a sigh of what seemed relief and began to discuss what she would get to do. Apparently this opportunity meant that she would get to work on actual projects with some of the world's best animators. I couldn't help but be happy because of her excitement. She was practically brimming over with joy and that alone soothed my troubled heart.

After Claire was done telling us her news, Emily decided to put turn on "It's a Wonder Life."I kept getting distracted from the movie though, because Claire kept running her fingers over my arm in a sensual pattern. It took every bit of willpower I possessed to not grab her right then and there.

I think Claire knew what she was doing too, because when I had to shift once to hide the beginning of an arousal, I thought I heard Claire giggle. Glancing over at her suspiciously, I saw her staring intently at the television. I would have believed her innocent expression except that she had a smirk on her face. Looking over at Nate, Emily, and Sam, I saw that they were all focused on the screen. I scooted over closer to Claire and put my head against her shoulder.

When no one looked in our direction, I leaned over and kissed a spot on her neck where I could see her pulse beating. I heard her heart speed up and her breathing increase. Smiling at the response, I opened my mouth and sucked lightly on the spot. Claire went perfectly still.

I moved away and glanced at her face. Claire continued to stare at the screen, but her eyes were wide open. Chuckling, I pulled away and leaned back against the couch. Claire relaxed against me and put her head on my shoulder. This time she didn't continue with her tormenting little patterns.

It was finally dinnertime. Gracie came down enthusiastically, her earlier irritation forgotten. I noticed somewhat sadly that Nate was piling his plate with food and had as much on it as the rest of the wolves at the table did. After dinner, Nate, Ryan, and I cleaned up the kitchen. We soon finished up and made our way into the living room.

Emily decided it was time to open the traditional one gift before Christmas. Nate received a book from his parents that he had wanted. Gracie was given a promise bracelet from Ryan. Claire handed me her gift to me. I opened the present and saw that Claire had given me a web cam.

"I have one too. Now we can talk all the time and we'll be able to see each other," Claire told me. "I figured that if I ended up going to California, these might come in handy."

"Thank you," I told her, leaning in to kiss her swiftly on the lips. Gracie said "ooooo" and Ryan grabbed her and covered her mouth with his hand. She quickly turned her attention back to Ryan and tackled him where he sat on the floor.

I gave Claire my present next and held my breath as she opened it. I heard her gasp as she looked at the gift she had unwrapped. Pulling it out of the box, she stared at it. It was a gold ring with a heart shaped ruby on it. There was a diamond on each side of the heart.

"Oh Quil…" Claire sighed. "It's beautiful."

I took the ring from her and slid it on the ring finger of her right hand. It fit perfectly. The ring was more symbolic than Claire would ever know.

"I saw it and I thought of you." I told her. "A beautiful ring for a beautiful heart."

Claire had tears in her eyes as she leaned over and hugged me. Pulling back slightly she whispered into my ear, "I'll never take it off. _Ever_."

Soon it was time for bed. Everyone had gone upstairs. I had arranged to spend the night on Sam's couch, as I didn't want to miss any time with Claire in the morning before she left for Makah. I changed out of the pants and shirt I had been wearing and changed into some sweatpants I had brought with me.

I laid down on the couch and turned on my side so that I could stare at the lights on the Christmas tree. I knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep anytime soon because Claire's news kept racing through my brain. Claire was going to California. She'd be out of the state for 10 weeks. I hated her being in Seattle, and now she was going even farther away.

I heard a noise on the stairs and looked over. A pair of shapely legs came into view before Claire finally appeared on the stairs. She was wearing a long-sleeved button up white shirt. The shirt went down to her thighs. From what I could tell, she wasn't wearing any type of shorts or pants with her shirt. She looked incredible.

"Quil, you awake?" Claire whispered, walking slowly over to me.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I couldn't sleep." Claire explained. "Mind if I join you?"

"Sure, go ahead," I replied.

I started to sit up, but Claire walked over to the couch and crawled over me. She arranged herself so that she was between my body and the back of the couch. Settling herself in the crook of my arm, she wrapped her right arm around my waist, and pushed her leg between mine. She scooted up so that her face was inches from my neck. She used to lay like this when she was a kid. Funny how different it was now that she was a woman and I was in love with her. I felt her nose next to my throat and heard her take a deep breath in. Scooting down slightly, she moved so that her head was resting on my shoulder.

"California's pretty far away, huh?" Claire said.

"True, but it's the opportunity of a lifetime, right? You'll get to study with the people who do the actual Disney films."

"Yeah," Claire responded quietly.

"Do you remember your third birthday? Your parents threw you a Disney Princess-themed party." I chuckled.

"No, but Aunt Em showed me the pictures." Claire stared at me for a moment before reaching up to touch the side of my face. "My dad once said you Quileutes have good genes and that's why you look so young, but it's like you haven't aged a bit since those pictures were taken."

I hesitated for a moment, and then I remembered Claire's excitement in going to California. "Don't worry; I feel my age on the inside."

I made a funny face at her and she rolled her eyes in return. I was careful to hide my wince from her as pain shot through me. That always happened when I was evasive with Claire. I couldn't lie to her, but I could get away with telling her partial truth, even though it hurt like hell to do so.

"I can't believe you let me put a pink crown and make-up on you." Claire smirked.

"There's very little that I wouldn't do for you Claire," I smiled into her eyes. She stared at me for a moment before she put her head back on my shoulder.

Claire lifted up the hand that was resting around my waist and looked at the ring I had placed on it earlier. She turned the ring back and forth slightly so that the lights from the Christmas tree reflected off of it.

"Thank you for my ring Quil. It's beautiful."

"You're welcome." I said, kissing her forehead.

I picked up her hand and brought it to my lips. I kissed the ring before turning her hand to kiss her palm. I let my tongue dart out so that it tasted the center of her hand. I heard Claire suck in a breath. Encouraged by the noise, I brought her index finger to my lips. Opening my mouth, I gently sucked on her finger, teasing it with my tongue.

Claire pulled her hand away and I immediately let go. She moved suddenly and shifted so that she was over me, her legs now on either side of my thighs. Slowly, she lowered herself so that her chest was resting against mine.

"Quil," Claire whispered, before leaning down. Our faces were inches apart.

She bent down and kissed my chin, gliding her lips along my jaw, before making her way to my neck. She started planting soft kisses along my neck, sending shivers of desire through me. Where the hell had she learned that trick from? I immediately pushed that thought out of my head. She moved to my ear and gently pulled on my ear lobe with her lips. I began to quickly lose control.

My hands grabbed her waist, and I moved her so that she was resting against the hardened part of my body that craved for her. My hips thrust up towards hers, letting her know exactly how much I needed her. Through the thin layer of my sweatpants and Claire's thin panties, I felt the warmth of her answering desire for me. I couldn't take it. I grabbed her hips and flipped her so that her back was on the couch and I was over her.

My hands reached unsteadily for the buttons on her shirt. I was successful in getting the first few buttons undone. It was enough to let me push the material out of the way so that her breasts were exposed to me. I bent and suckled on one gently and heard her groan in response. My hand traveled up her thigh, going underneath the hem of her shirt, and had just reached the border of her panties when I felt Claire freeze.

She started to push against my chest, and I leaned away in confusion. I looked down at her and saw horror in her eyes. Finally focusing on my surroundings, I realized what had made Claire freeze. Someone was coming down the stairs.

I jumped off Claire and sat on the opposite corner of the couch. I reached over and grabbed a small quilt off the floor that was next to where I was sitting. I quickly threw it across my lap in an attempt to hide my arousal. Claire buttoned up her top as quickly as she could, which wasn't easy considering her hands were shaking badly. Gracie soon appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

"What are you two doing?" Gracie said in a tone that indicated she was half asleep.

"We're just talking," Claire answered in a somewhat shaky voice.

"Oh," Gracie replied, looking confused.

"What are you doing up?" Claire asked.

"My stomach hurts, so I was going to take something for it."

"Let me see if I can help you find something…you probably ate too much junk food tonight." Claire said, getting up from the couch. She gave me a look of regret before heading towards the kitchen with Gracie.

I could hear the girls talking and a cupboard door open and close. Shit! I was going to have to go for a run in the snow to get my body to calm down. A couple of minutes later, Claire walked back into the room.

"I guess I should go to bed." Claire said, walking over to me with an unsure look on her face.

I held out my hand and Claire put her hand in mine. I brought it to my lips and kissed it.

Looking back up at her, I said softly, "Goodnight Claire."

Glancing towards the kitchen where we could hear Gracie moving around, Claire leaned down and swiftly kissed me on the lips.

Giggling, Claire replied close to my ear, "Sweet dreams Quil."

I wanted to smile, but I realized there was something more important I still needed to say. There was something that needed to be settled between us tonight before anything else happened between us.

"Claire," I called out as she turned to leave.

"Yeah," she responded, looking back at me.

Even in the faint glimmer of the tree lights, I could see the flush on Claire's cheeks and the desire in her eyes. I almost didn't care that Gracie was in the other room. I wanted to pull Claire back down against me so that we could finish what we had started. But I realized I couldn't do it. I knew what I had to do…but how did I say it?

_Just say it fuckwad, _a voice inside my head yelled.

"Do you wanna go out sometime?" I blurted out. _Smooth, ass, real smooth._

"You mean…like a date?" Claire said in a surprised voice.

"If…uh…if you want to," I replied nervously. I saw Claire smile softly.

"Yeah…" Claire responded. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Oh," I answered, shocked at how easy it had been. I felt a wide smile break out on my face, "Okay, great."

I heard Claire laugh softly, "Goodnight Quil."

Gracie came into the living room at that moment and stood next to Claire, looking back and forth between me and her cousin. Jeez, she was worse than a chaperone.

"Good night Claire," I repeated, the smile still on my face, "Goodnight Gracie."

"Night," Gracie responded.

Both girls made their way upstairs. I laid back down on the couch and put my hands behind my head as I stared up at the ceiling. Even with Claire in school and going to California for the summer, things were finally happening for us. We were going to start dating.

I felt like it was already Christmas Day. And I had just received the best present I could ever have asked for.

_A/N – Would __you like to see their first date? I originally planned on skipping it, but I'll let you decide. _


	25. Just Right

_A/N – A majority of you said you wanted to read the first date, so here you go. Thank you again for all the comments I received for my previous chapter…lol, all I can say is poor Gracie! It could have been worse. It could have been Sam that interrupted them on the couch._

_To Anonymous Arkansan, "Jessica" was based on one of my very close friends who's from Arkansas. That character was based solely on her and the way she speaks in particular_.

**Chapter 25 – Just Right**

Quil's POV

I pressed my tie down as I made my way to Ronnie's front door. I was wearing the same suit I had worn to Claire's "prom," but I didn't really have any other nice clothes. I was picking Claire up for our official first date. I was also taking her back to Seattle. School was starting up in a few days. A five hour drive wasn't exactly what I had in mind to get the date started, but it was New Year's Eve, and Claire wanted to head back.

Jessica's boyfriend, BD, was having a New Year's Eve party at his family's art gallery. I had made reservations for Claire and me to have dinner at one of the top restaurants in Seattle, and then we were going to the gallery after that. I wanted to make sure everything went just right for our date.

I reached the front door and ran a hand nervously over my hair. I cringed as I felt the unnatural stiffness there. I had put so much gel in my hair that I didn't know if I'd ever be able to get the crap out again. Ronnie opened the door after my first knock.

"Quil, come on in." Ronnie said.

We walked into the living room. Ronnie came to a dead stop and turned and faced me.

"So Quil, you're taking my daughter out on a date, huh?" Ronnie said, folding his arms across his chest in an attempt to intimidate me.

I almost laughed. After everything Claire and I had been through, after all the waiting I had done, no one was going to stop us from dating, including Ronnie.

"That's the plan," I told him.

"I don't know how I feel about Claire dating someone so much older than her." Ronnie replied, glaring at me.

"Isn't that up to Claire?" I asked, though inwardly I winced. What if Claire thought I was too old for her to?

"Claire has never had her head on straight when it comes to you." Ronnie muttered.

"Ronnie, do you think I'd let anything happen to Claire? That because I'm older than her, I'd try to pressure her or something? Believe me when I say, I would only ever treat Claire with the utmost respect?"

Ronnie continued to glare at me for a moment, before he sighed and let his arms drop to his sides. He grumbled, "I know you wouldn't let anything happen to her. You've always taken care of Claire. It's just going to take some getting used to."

"I…care very much for Claire," I told him. That was an understatement. "I promise, you don't have anything to worry about."

Ronnie nodded slowly before turning and yelling, "Claire, Quil is here!"

Stacy came scurrying out of the kitchen. She was beaming at me and came over to straighten my tie.

"Quil, you look so nice. Any big plans tonight?"

"Dinner and then we're going to an art museum."

"Well, you kids have fun," Stacy smiled at me. I wanted to chuckle. Stacy was maybe six or seven years older than me and she was calling me a kid.

"Thanks ma'am," I responded, which earned me a light smack on the arm.

I heard a noise from the hallway and looked in that direction. Claire was walking into the room, carrying her suitcase. She literally took my breath away. She looked beautiful in a white dress which flowed down to her knees. The neck of the dress was cut into a V-shape and had some type of floral pattern on it. I couldn't help but notice how well the neckline emphasized her breasts. She had kept her long hair down, and it fell to her shoulders like a shimmering wave.

I walked over to her swiftly and took the suitcase from her. "You look incredible."

"Thanks," Claire replied, smiling shyly at me. "You do too."

I heard Stacy make a sniffing noise behind me. Claire went over to her parents and hugged them both goodbye. She probably wouldn't see them again until her spring break, unless she came home for an earlier visit. Claire had gotten them a webcam too, so she would be able to talk to them face to face. After the goodbyes were done, Claire reached for her purse and a small bag which she had waiting for her by the front door. We headed outside and got into the car and left.

As we drove, Claire told me about all the people she had gotten caught up with. She had spent some time with her old friends Ashley and Amber. Sully had come up to Makah for a visit as well. He had come home for his winter break. They hadn't had time to meet while Claire was in La Push, so he had decided to make the trip up to see her.

Apparently, he had met another pre-med student and they were dating pretty seriously. I had asked Claire how she felt about that, and she had told me honestly that she felt relieved. She just wanted him to be happy. We also discussed the fact that Lindsey and Collin had moved in together and were living in an apartment in Forks.

What I didn't tell Claire was that Collin was thinking of retiring from the pack soon. He told me the other day that he'd give it another year, and then he was going to try to stop phasing for awhile. He wasn't the only one either who had retired or wanted to retire.

Out of all of us, there weren't too many pack members left anymore. Of the original pack, Paul, Jared, and Leah had already retired. Embry was still phasing, but he was off in Maine somewhere. Jacob was living with vampires in Vermont. And Sam was waiting for an Alpha to take over and then he was out. Of the wolves that had changed close to the time of the Volturi "attack," Rafe, Will, Mac, Tristen, and Ethan had all stopped phasing. So if Collin retired, all that would be left was Sam, me, Seth, Brady, Ryan, and Azra.

But that didn't mean the wolves were disappearing. A new generation was starting to grow. Nate was one we were pretty sure would phase if the circumstances were right. We were also beginning to keep an eye on Paul's oldest son Devlin. Devlin was only 10, but the kid had recently started sprouting up at a faster pace than normal.

"Hey Quil," Claire asked, snapping me out of my thoughts, "Can we put in a CD? You have to listen to this group."

She reached around behind her and grabbed her small bag from the back seat. She looked inside of it and grabbed the CD she wanted. I nodded for her to go ahead, and she put it in the car's CD player. Soon, obscure Indie rock music blared through the car. We began to debate which decade had better music, the punk scene from the 70s or the grunge movement from the 90s.

We soon reached the city of Seattle and I headed to the restaurant I had picked out. I had been extremely lucky to get a reservation due to it being New Year's Eve, but someone had cancelled just before I called and I was able to get a table reserved. Good thing too, because otherwise we would have probably ended up at McDonald's for dinner.

The restaurant I had chosen was "Anthony's Pier 66." The restaurant overlooked the water and was known for its excellent seafood. We pulled into the parking lot, and I was able to find a spot a little ways away from the entrance.

I parked the car and turned to Claire, "Stay right there."

I opened my car door and got out quickly, racing around to the other side to open Claire's door for her. I reached down to help her out and she put her right hand in mine. The heart-shaped ruby ring I had given her for Christmas drew my attention as the lights from the restaurant danced off it.

"You're still wearing the ring, huh?" I asked. I couldn't help put feel pride in her wearing my ring, even though it wasn't an engagement ring or anything.

Claire smiled at me in response, "I told you, I'm never taking it off."

I picked up her hand and kissed it. Still holding her hand, we made our way to the restaurant. After waiting several minutes, we were soon seated at a table that overlooked the bay. A large clipper ship went by as we waited for the waitress to come take our drink order. I couldn't help but stare at my imprint as the light from the table's candle turned her skin into a rich honey color.

"What?" Claire said, reaching up to touch her hair in a nervous gesture.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to stare" I apologized. "It's just that you look really beautiful."

"Oh…"

I chuckled at the blush that suddenly appeared on Claire's cheeks. It was funny that after all these years I could still make her blush. The waitress came and we gave her our drink orders. Claire looked at me and started to play with the corner of her menu in a nervous gesture.

I turned and looked out at the water again. Claire and I had never had any problems talking in our entire relationship, yet I couldn't think of anything to say now that our date had officially begun. I wanted to say something that would come off as smooth and "cool." Instead, I found myself sneaking peeks at her like some moronic adolescent dealing with his first crush. While I was doing one of my many glances, I noticed Claire yawn.

"Are you bored already?" I asked, slightly chagrined.

Claire laughed self-consciously, "I'm sorry, I didn't sleep very well last night?"

"Too much caffeine before bed?"

"No, I guess I was just…" But Claire didn't finish and quickly picked up her menu.

"What?" I asked, instantly intrigued as Claire turned an even brighter shade of red.

"I guess I was a little nervous about tonight." Claire admitted.

"Oh," I replied slowly before asking worriedly, "Did you want to cancel or something?"

"No," Claire replied instantly. "No, that's not it. It's just that…you know…we've been friends for so long, and then after what happened on Christmas Eve…"

Her voice trailed off. She immediately picked up her menu and stared at it like it was the most important thing in the world. I thought I began to have an idea of where Claire was coming from. The entire time that Claire was up in Makah this past week, I had talked to her every day, but we never talked about _that_.

"Claire, look at me for a second," I pleaded. She looked up into my eyes. "I'd never force you to do anything you wouldn't want. You know that, right?"

"But you're older than me and have more experience than me…and I wasn't sure what you were expecting tonight after what had happened."

I reached across the table and turned my hand over so that the back was resting against the wood surface. Claire looked at it for a minute before putting her hand in mine. My thumb rubbed against her knuckles.

"How about you and I just take it slow, okay? There's no rush or pressure. We'll date and see where it takes us."

Claire nodded slowly. I cursed myself silently. _Nice going you fucking idiot. At this rate you'll never have sex again!_

She suddenly looked away and started laughing softly. I wondered briefly if I had spoken my thoughts out loud.

"What?" I asked.

"Did you ever think that we would one day be sitting here having a casual conversation about us having…well, you know…"

Claire went to pull her hand away, but I held on to it. I bent down and kissed the back of her hand before releasing it.

"To be honest, there was a time when I couldn't even picture us dating, let alone doing anything else," I told her truthfully. "But I'm really glad you agreed to go out with me."

"Me too Quil," Claire smiled at me.

We glanced over our menus and the waitress came and we placed our orders. Claire ordered a shrimp salad. I ordered a house salad to start off with, and for the main dish I ordered lobster, crab legs, a shrimp platter, plus a steak with a potato. We made small talk as we waited for our food. When the waitress brought our dinners to us, I dove right in. I finished off my salad and moved onto the lobster. I finished within minutes. I heard Claire laugh and I looked up.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm sorry." Claire giggled. It's just that sometimes you eat like an animal."

"Sorry," I mumbled, even as my eyes moved to the shrimp platter.

"Don't worry about it, it's kind of sexy," Claire said before reaching over and grabbing a shrimp off my platter. I glanced at her with pleasure. She thought I was sexy?

She dipped the shrimp in the liquid butter that was on the table, and reached over and placed it near my mouth. I opened my mouth and took it in. I felt some of the butter dribble down my chin, but before I could wipe it off with my napkin, Claire caught it with her finger. I almost groaned as she brought her butter-covered finger to her mouth and licked it off.

Oh fuck! What was that stupid ass comment I made earlier about waiting before we had sex? I thought I was going to explode right then and there.

An hour later, we finished our meal, and headed to BD's art gallery. I parked the car in the nearest spot I could find which was still about four blocks away. I had offered to drop Claire off at the door, but she insisted on walking with me. I opened her door for her once I had parked the car and we walked towards the museum. Claire kept close to me the entire time as an icy wind was blowing through the air. As soon as we entered the museum, my back went rigid and I started to shake.

"Quil, are you okay?" Claire asked me in concern.

I looked around slowly following the scent that was burning my nose. The place was packed, but I had no problem singling out the vampire that was in the midst of the humans. I picked him out instantly.

On the opposite side of the museum, I saw a tall, lanky leech with long black hair that reached his shoulders. He had on sunglasses, most likely to hide his red eyes, and his pale skin almost glittered under the track lighting the museum had. I looked around slowly to see if anyone else had noticed the oddity amongst them, but no one seemed to care. Of course, most people were dressed strangely anyway. I saw a man wearing a blue dress and a woman with a green and purple mohawk.

The vampire was talking to a young woman with long blond hair. Whether she knew it or not, she was in extreme danger. I knew that for a fact because she was in perfect focus, while all the other women around her were blurry to me.

I looked down at Claire. Shit! What did I do? Did I leave Claire so that I could take care of the leech? Or did I grab Claire and run? Every instinct told me to grab Claire and run, but I couldn't leave the museum full of people with a vampire around. I was supposed to protect _all_ humans. That's why I was made.

I quickly observed the area. The leech was definitely by himself. Making a decision that made me feel sick inside, I grabbed Claire's arm and moved her to where I had noticed Jessica was standing. She was on the opposite side of the museum of where fangs was.

"Claire, I have to go talk to someone I just recognized," I said, wincing as I told her the partial truth. "Please stay with Jessica so I can find you, okay?"

"Okay Quil," Claire looked at me with a confused expression on her face. Conflict raced through me as I quickly bent my head and kissed her swiftly before I turned and headed towards the leech.

The smell as I got closer started to sting my nose. It had been a long time since I had been around any vampires. As I approached, the leech stiffened and turned to look at me. As I got closer, he hissed.

"You need to leave," I told him looking him straight in the eye.

"We were just leaving," the leech told me, nodding to the woman who watching us with a puzzled expression on her face.

"You're not taking her anywhere." I told him.

"Oh, Stella wants to come with me, don't you Stella?" The leech said, turning on his full charm to the woman. The woman beamed back.

I looked over and saw an exit door right behind the bloodsucker. I started to tremble and before Stella could see what happened, I had the leech by his throat and threw him out the door. With lightening speed, I followed him out the exit and into an alley. As soon as I got outside, I threw off my pants, shoes, and jacket and began to shake so hard I blurred. I didn't even try to save my socks, dress shirt, or briefs.

The leech lunged at me while I was in mid-phase. I jumped out of the way before he could get to me. He fell against the wall of the museum, cracking it as he hit. I completed my phase, my remaining clothes falling off me in shreds, and jumped against him, biting into his neck. A sharp metallic sound resonated through the area as I ripped off the bloodsucker's head. I then ripped off the limbs and put the parts into a pile.

Phasing to my human form, I pulled on my jacket, pants and shoes. I went back into the museum and asked someone for some matches. As soon as I had them, I went back outside and set the body on fire. Purple smoke filled the area as the leech burned. The scent made me sick. As soon as I was satisfied that there was no more threat, I went inside the museum again.

"Hey, where did Stephan go?" Stella said, coming up to me.

"He had to split," I told her matter-of-factually. _Had to split?_ That sounded like a cheesy one-liner from a James Bond movie.

I instantly felt the pull to my imprint and headed in that direction. As I walked, I noticed the strange looks I kept getting from people, which was odd considering I couldn't have looked any worse than some of the others in here. The man I noticed earlier in the blue dress walked into my path. I stopped walking to avoid running him over. He had somehow acquired a turquoise feather boa since I last saw him. He eyed my chest which my jacket couldn't quite hide.

"Hey handsome. You here with anyone?" He asked.

The man picked up the end of his boa and ran it down my cheek. I jerked back in surprise. This night was not going like I planned at all. Suddenly, Jessica was by my side.

"Sorry Andy, he's taken." Jessica smiled and grabbed my arm.

"Oh, damn the luck," Andy sighed, before turning away.

"C'mon, Claire's looking for you." Jessica said, dragging me to where I could see Claire talking to a man I assumed was Jessica's boyfriend.

"I found him Claire," Jessica practically yelled. Claire turned her head and her mouth dropped open as she looked at me.

"Quil, what happened?" Claire said in a shocked voice. "Did you get into a fight?"

Shit! "Yeah, there was a guy hassling a woman."

"What happened to your shirt?" Claire asked, eyeing my chest.

Shit again! "Ah…it got ruined in the fight."

Jessica's boyfriend and Claire looked at me like I had just phased in front of them. Jessica smiled at me and seemed to find nothing unusual with the situation. I wondered if there was something mentally wrong with her.

"Quil, this is my boyfriend BD," Jessica suddenly said.

"Bryant," BD stated, rolling his eyes at Jessica's nickname.

"Hey," I said, shaking his hand.

Claire waited for us to stop shaking hands and then she grabbed my arm. I instantly turned to her.

"Do you need to see a doctor or anything?"

"Of course not," I assured her.

"Quil, you're a mess," she told me.

"I'm sorry about the clothes," I said, trying to fix my jacket so that I looked a little more presentable.

Claire reached out and pulled something out of my hair. It looked like a bubble gum wrapper. Reaching up, I could feel my hair full of junk from the alley. Fucking hair gel!

"Oh damn…I'll be right back. I'm going to clean up in the bathroom." I told her.

"Okay," Claire replied, shaking her head at me. As I walked away I thought I heard her say something that sounded like "always a hero."

I went into the bathroom and sure enough, I looked like I had just gotten into a fight. I tried to pick as much garbage out of my hair as possible, but I could still feel the dirt all over my scalp. I scrubbed at my face, but I felt grimy. I would never put gel in my hair again. I could hear music suddenly blaring in the museum area. I cringed as the noise hit my overly sensitive ears. I took a paper towel and scrubbed until I felt somewhat clean again. Finally satisfied, I left the bathroom.

I walked into the main section of the museum and found Claire. I also saw some guy standing very close to her saying something into her ear. She kept shaking her head and pointing up at the ceiling where the music was blaring from large speakers.

I made my way quickly over to her and wrapped my arm around her. The man eyed me warily. Claire smiled up at me and the man turned and left. Looking down into her amazing brown eyes, I knew I couldn't leave her in Seattle until we had something established between us.

"Claire, I want us to date exclusively." I blurted out.

She frowned at me and said, "What?"

"I want you to be my girlfriend," I said louder. My head was beginning to throb from the noise. She shook her head and pointed to her ear indicating she still couldn't hear me.

Oh for fuck's sake! I looked around and saw a little desk near the front entrance of the museum. I held my hand up to her indicating for her to stay where she was and walked over to the desk. I was able to find a piece of paper and wrote my message on it. I folded it in half and went back to Claire and gave her the note along with a pen.

Claire looked at me with confusion before opening the note. A smile started to form on her face as she read what I had written. She suddenly broke out into laughter. Claire went over to the wall she was standing near and put the paper against it. Writing something on the paper, she came back and handed me my note.

The museum patrons started counting down. New Year's was almost here.

_10, 9, 8, 7… _

I opened up the paper.

I had written a question: Will you be my girlfriend?

_6, 5, 4… _

Underneath it, I had written, "please check a box to indicate your answer and had drawn two boxes. One had a "yes" next to it; the other had a "no" next to it.

_3, 2, 1…_

Claire had checked "yes."

…_Happy New Year!_

I grabbed Claire and picked her up off her feet. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I kissed her, holding her as tightly to me as I could. I kissed her over and over again, our lips moving against each other in a sensual dance.

While I stood there in the crowded museum kissing my imprint, _my_ _girlfriend_, I felt I was experiencing one of the best moments of my life. Because in that moment, I thought things were finally starting to fall into place for us.

I was wrong.

_**A/N – Please review! *cough* ghost readers *cough***_


	26. New Threat

**Chapter 26 – New Threat**

Quil's POV

Claire would be coming home from California next week. We had been dating for the past six months now. It hadn't been easy as most of our relationship so far had been long distance, but we had somehow made it work.

On the night of our New Year's date, we had gone back to Claire's dorm and then passed out from exhaustion. Well, she passed out. I had taken a shower to wipe off the rest of alley grime and when I was done, I had found Claire sleeping soundly on her bed. I'd held her in my arms all night, but that was as far as it had gone.

We established a routine after that. We talked on our webcams every night at 8 pm. Between my job, Claire's school and work, and my now nightly patrols, there was very little time to see each other. Sundays had been our day though while she still attended school in Seattle. I'd leave at 6 am every Sunday, would drive five hours to Seattle, and would get there around 11 am. From there we'd spend the day together, and then I'd head for home again around 7 pm, so that I'd be back in time for my shift to patrol. It would have been so much easier if I could have just run back and forth, but we usually needed a car for our dates.

Claire had gone straight from school in Seattle to her apprenticeship in California. I had flown down there with her when she first moved, but since then, I had only seen her once in the past nine weeks. And the one time I did see her, I had made a special trip to California so that I could celebrate Claire's 19th birthday with her. But we still talked every night on our webcams. That made the distance a little more bearable.

I was more in love with her than I ever thought possible, and I knew she was in love with me too. It was strange how we never said the words though. That was something I needed to establish when she got back. I planned to tell her that I was in love with her, and that I'd been falling in love with her for years.

I looked at the clock on my DVD player. Ten more minutes until 8 pm and then I'd get to talk to her. I couldn't wait for Claire to come home, though I knew what it meant. Telling her that I loved her wasn't the only thing I needed to say to her. It was time for me to tell her the truth. I planned on telling her about the pack and the fact that she was my imprint. I knew it would complicate things, but I figured that if she loved me as I loved her, we'd make it work even with her still attending college. I was thinking that if she wanted me too, I'd move to Seattle to be near her when school started up again.

Of course, that wasn't the only reason I wanted to move to Seattle. Since I killed that leech on New Year's Eve, there had been some mysterious deaths taking place over the past few months. Five bodies had been found completely drained of blood. The murders started around June in the Colorado area, and had since started moving west, getting closer and closer to us. The latest victim had been found on the outskirts of Seattle.

Sam had called Jacob and the Cullens and had given them a description of the bloodsucker I had killed on New Year's Eve. They didn't know who the vampire was, or if his destruction had something to do with the new string of murders. There was some concern that the new leech would bring the Volturi back to the area, but the Volturi now avoided this part of the world like it was the sun.

Glancing at the clock again, I noticed it was close to webcam time. I got up from my chair and got my computer set up. Soon Claire and I were talking face to face. God, how I missed her!

"Hey, how'd it go today?" I asked.

"Quil, you wouldn't believe it! I got to work on a cartoon today that they're putting on the market. Some of the scenes I did might end up in the film. It's going straight to DVD, but I'm so excited."

"That great!" I told her, overjoyed at the sight of her enthusiasm.

"And guess what? I got a new neighbor today." Claire told me, her eyes brimming over with mirth. Claire was staying in a temporary apartment, completely furnished, while she was in California.

"Yeah…she seem nice?"

"Yes, _he's _very nice."

"Oh…it's a guy, huh?" I tried to ask casually.

"Yeah and he's a surfer too. I was leaving the parking lot and he was walking in with a surf board. That's how I met him. He's really funny. And get this…his name is Stone Kennedy."

"Stone? Is he on drugs?"

Claire rolled her eyes. "He's actually a doctor. He just goes surfing whenever he gets a chance."

"Hmm." I responded stiffly.

Claire looked down at something in front of her before peeping up at me with a coy little smile on her face.

"He's really cute too."

"So why don't you just date him then." I snapped, jealousy making my hands shake slightly.

"Oh, I can't date him…you see, his wife thinks he's really cute too. At least I assume she does considering I've never met her. But since they moved in, I've heard them having sex twice now, and they only moved in a few hours ago. I never knew how thin the walls were here until I heard them going at it. And besides, I already have an incredibly hot boyfriend of my own."

I shook my head at her before laughing. "Tease."

"I know, but you're so cute when you're jealous. I couldn't help it."

I looked at her for a minute before my face became serious. "I can't wait for you to come home."

"I know, me too. I'm really looking forward to seeing you again in person." Claire smiled.

"Yeah," I responded, before looking away. "Listen, when you get back, we need to talk about some things."

"Uh-oh, that sounds ominous." Claire replied, her face losing its amusement.

"Well, it's important…I mean, I don't how important it is, but it might change some things between me and you."

"Are you breaking up with me?" Claire asked. She was sitting perfectly still.

"No…it's nothing like that." I replied instantly.

"Did you meet someone else?"

"Of course not."

"Then what's so important that you can't tell me now?" Claire questioned. I thought she was going to cry.

"Claire, it's nothing bad. At least I don't think it is." Shit! I wish I had never brought this up now. "There's just something we need to discuss, and I want to do it face to face."

_Oh, that sounds so much better. Great going jackass._

Claire just sat there with her head turned so that all I could see was her profile.

"Please don't worry Claire. It's nothing bad, I promise. I just want to take our relationship in a new direction…a better direction." _A more open direction with you knowing all the facts._

"Oh…" Claire replied, before a smile dawned on her face.

Why did she suddenly look like it was Christmas? I re-thought what I said and realized that it sounded like I might be proposing. I looked at Claire closely to gauge her reaction. If that's what her interpretation of what my words truly was, she didn't look upset by the idea. In fact, she looked ecstatic.

Marriage? If I proposed when she got back, would she say yes? Or would she say she wanted to wait until she was done with school before making such an important decision in her life. Or worse, what if she just said no. Before I could give it anymore thought, I remembered that I still had to tell her the truth. Maybe she wouldn't want to marry a guy who could turn into a wolf if his temper got too bad.

"Well, I should let you go." I told her reluctantly.

"Okay Quil," Claire responded, pushing her hair out of her face. I saw the ruby ring I had given her flash across the screen. It always made me feel so happy when I saw it there.

"Goodnight honey, I miss you." I said.

"I miss you too…goodnight." Claire responded, before ending our visual connection. I spent the next few hours looking at engagement rings on the Internet.

Around midnight, I went out to my backyard and phased for patrol. Sam had started having us do 12 hour shifts since New Year's. Seth, Collin, and I had the night shift. Brady, Azra, and Ryan were doing the day shift. Sam alternated between shifts, sometimes doing double shifts.

Tonight for the most part was pretty quiet. But there was something about the quietness that made me restless. I couldn't help but feel that something bad was going to happen.

"Hey Captain Blue Balls," Collin snickered. "You wanna keep your thoughts of dread to yourself. You're giving me the willies."

"Shut the fuck up," I muttered as I met up with Seth and Collin for our shift.

One thing that Seth and Collin loved to give me crap for was the fact that Claire and I still hadn't had sex. Unfortunately, I let it slip one night that Claire and I had almost consummated our relationship on Sam's couch before Gracie interrupted us. Thankfully Sam still hadn't patrolled with my shift during the times they harassed me about that. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't be allowed to set foot in his house again.

"I'm sure Sam would understand," Collin interrupted my thoughts, before laughing. "Lack of sex, especially in your case where you haven't been laid in 16 years, is too much for anyone to be expected to handle. Particularly when a guy is being tempted by someone as hot as Claire."

I growled at that, but Collin ignored me and continued his thought, "If you lost control, pulled out the wild wolf, and finished the job, I'm sure Sam would have been very understanding."

"Wild wolf? Is that what you call your member?" Seth snorted.

"Nah, his name is Wolfgang." Collin chuckled.

I tried very hard to control my temper. "Would you mind if we focused on patrolling and stopped discussing my sex life and penis names?"

"Well, we can't discuss a sex life that you don't have, Bluesy." Collin said, before an image of him and Lindsey having sex suddenly flashed through our minds.

"Dude, stop," Seth pleaded. "Do you want Quil to combust?"

"You know what? Fuck both of you." I snapped, showing them my teeth as I began to growl.

"Ooooh…so scared." Collin replied.

I lunged at him and we fell to the ground. I bit him on the shoulder and then whacked him with my paw as hard as I could. I felt a lot of satisfaction when I heard him yelp as I drew blood. Seth sighed and laid down on the ground, putting his head on his paws as he wearily watched our fight.

"What in the hell is going on here?" Sam's voice thundered through our heads.

Collin and I broke apart instantly. I looked at Sam and did my best to block out my thoughts. Apparently, Collin and Seth weren't as successful. I watched in horror as our conversation about me almost having sex on Sam's couch replayed in both of their minds. Sam stood completely still as he listened to their thoughts.

Finally, his head turned slowly towards me, "You almost seduced my niece on my couch under my roof?"

"Sorry," I whispered.

'Ugh…I don't want to hear anymore of this. I'm going back home and phasing. Try to get some patrolling done please." Sam said, leaving the area. Right before he phased back to human form, Sam started muttering something about giving Gracie a raise in her allowance.

I turned and looked at Collin who was already healing from the lacerations I had given him. "Nice going dip shit."

"Hey, I wasn't the one who tried to bop his niece under his roof."

"Why don't we patrol, huh?" Seth finally spoke.

Ever the peacekeeper, Seth kept the mood light as he told us stories about Leah's children. She now had two kids. Her daughter, Lily, was almost four and her son, Henry, was two. She had also just found out that she was pregnant again. The kids were something else; always up to different things. Seth had joked that Leah's daughter had inherited her mother's attitude. I laughed as I thought of how Leah and Dylan were going to have their hands full once Lily became a teenager, especially if she was like Leah. We had just finished patrol around noon and were headed towards Sam's house when we felt a shimmer in the air.

"I'm going to need your help here, guys." Sam said abruptly.

Through his eyes, we saw Nate in the middle of Sam's backyard. He was shaking so hard that he was blurry. The terror on his face broke Sam's heart. Suddenly, the skin ripped from his body and light colored fur started to appear.

"Get here as soon as you can." Sam ordered, before he phased back to human form.

"What the hell's going on? Oh God, what's wrong with me?" I heard Nate's panicked voice suddenly shout. Just as the questions started running through his head, we heard a scream.

Collin, Seth, and I picked up our pace as we ran towards Sam's backyard. Through Nate's point of view, I could see him turn and look at his sister who was staring at him in shock. Ryan raced out of the house after his imprint and quickly threw himself in front of Gracie.

"Sam, phase," Ryan begged.

"I can't without us attacking each other. He needs to be in control of himself first." Sam said in a calm voice.

Nate turned around and saw his father in the corner of the yard. The urge to attack was so overpowering in that moment that I almost wanted to lunge at Sam myself.

"Nate, calm down, don't attack Sam." Seth yelled as we continued to run.

"Seth? What's going on?" Nate yelled.

"Calm down and wait for us to get there." I told him.

He turned and looked at his father again. The urge to kill the other Alpha in front of him was overwhelming. Before he could stop himself, he jumped for his father's throat. However, Ryan was there first in full wolf form, standing in front of Sam with his teeth bared.

Soft whimpering started coming from the area of the house. Ryan looked over and saw Gracie standing there with tears in her eyes. Emily ran out of the house, her hair wrapped in a towel, a bathrobe tied haphazardly around her. She grabbed her daughter and brought her close to her.

"Em, get Gracie into the house please. Ryan go with her, she's going to need you right now." Sam said, patting Ryan on his soft coat. We could see through Nate that Sam never took his eyes off of his son.

"I'm not leaving Sam," Ryan told us, though he kept looking worriedly at Gracie. We could see Emily trying to get her daughter in the house, but Gracie was frozen. Giving up briefly, Emily went back in the house and came out again with the quilt from the couch in her hands.

We arrived in the yard seconds later. Sam was still in human form facing his son. Ryan stood in front of him, the hair on his light brown coat standing straight up. Emily had her arms wrapped around Gracie, who staring at Ryan's wolf body with fear on her young face.

And then there was Nate. While Sam's fur was completely black, Nate's was a light grey color. His fur was so light that it actually looked white. Nate turned his head and looked at us in horror.

"Is that me?" Nate asked in an incredulous tone, seeing himself through our eyes.

"Yeah," I replied simply.

I could feel the conflict in Ryan. While he didn't want to leave us and Sam, his need to comfort his imprint was suffocating. Very slowly, I walked carefully over to Emily and Gracie. Gracie cried harder as I approached and clutched at her mother, burying her face into Emily's shoulder.

"Back off," Ryan growled.

"I have to get the quilt so you can phase back. Unless you want to walk around Gracie naked, then be my guest," I told him impatiently.

"What is wrong with you people or whatever the hell you are?" Nate yelled, as he felt for the first time the connection between Ryan and his 13-year-old sister.

We ignored him, as I reached Emily and her daughter. Emily handed me the quilt and I grabbed it gently with my teeth before hurrying away. I walked over to Ryan. Seth and Collin were now flanking Ryan's side, protecting Sam who still hadn't phased.

I dropped the quilt at Ryan's feet. Ryan looked at it, then at Nate, before his eyes rested on Gracie again. She wouldn't even look at us anymore, but stood there crying against her mother. Emily kept whispering words of comfort to her.

"Go Ryan," Sam ordered firmly.

Ryan picked up the quilt and went behind a tree. Seconds later he came out with the blanket wrapped protectively around his waist. He ran over to Gracie. Upon seeing Ryan, Gracie screamed and ran inside the house. Ryan looked devastated. Emily patted his arm and followed her daughter in the house. The telephone started to ring.

"Ryan, can you get that while I talk to Gracie." I heard Emily call out. We turned our attention back to Nate whose mind was racing at the moment.

Brady and Azra joined us in the yard and ran in front of Sam as well. We quickly started explaining what we were to Nate and what he was. There was no denying the power coming off of him. He had inherited the Alpha gene from his father. It was incredible how much we could sense it. When he got over the shock of being a shape-shifter, I had no doubt that Nate was going to be one of the most powerful wolves in our tribe's history.

As we stood there and told him our legends, I realized each one of us had slowly started to shift our allegiance from Sam to Nate. It couldn't be helped, and I knew it was what Sam wanted anyway. I looked back at Sam and nodded to him. Sam looked at his son one more time, before going behind a tree. When he came out again, he had phased.

"Sam," Ryan shouted. He walked out into the yard now wearing some jogging pants. "That was Sue on the phone. She said that Charlie received a call that they found a body in Forks. It was drained of blood."

"Well, I guess that explains what made Nate phase." Sam sighed. He nodded his head to Ryan in acknowledgement, and Ryan turned and went back inside the house to find Gracie.

I looked back at Sam. His Alpha gene was starting to go dormant. The same thing would have happened if he had relinquished power of the pack to Jacob all those years ago, but at that time Jacob hadn't wanted to be the Alpha. However, just because the power wasn't as strong as it might have been an hour ago, Sam still felt uncomfortable being so close to another Alpha, even if it was his own son. His uneasiness made me feel apprehensive, like something wasn't right.

While it made me sad to realize that we would soon be losing Sam to retirement, I was happy to see that we could still hear his thoughts. I was worried that once we gave our allegiance to Nate, we wouldn't be able to communicate with Sam anymore. I heard Sam's chuckling bark as he heard my thoughts.

"Well, if you don't mind one more order from your former Alpha, we have some work to do. A leech killed someone close to home. Seth, Collin, Quil, I know you just got off patrol, but I'm asking you to go out and see if you can find the scent. Sniff around Forks and see what you can pick up. Azra and Brady, patrol our border, and make sure nothing gets across. Ryan is going to have his hands full with Gracie and won't be able to help. And Nate and I need to talk," Sam finished, looking at his son, who still looked torn between freaking out and attacking his father.

Collin, Seth, and I headed towards Forks. On the northern part of town, we were able to pick up the faint scent of vampire. We started following the trail. As I ran, I couldn't shake the troubled feeling I'd had since I was in the presence of the two Alphas. It seemed to get worse and worse as we ran, but I made myself focus on the task at hand. The others felt unnerved as well, but we continued to hunt for the leech.

"Up ahead," Collin suddenly yelled out.

Sure enough, in the distance we saw a bloodsucker in the middle of the forest. He looked similar to the one I had killed on New Year's Eve, but instead of having black hair, his hair was brown. He casually looked around and saw us charging after him. Hissing, he took off running. We almost lost sight of him. He was fast, nearly as fast as Edward Cullen.

We chased the bloodsucker all the way up to the northern part of Canada, before we started to close in on him. I was closest to him and opened my mouth to grab his leg. All of a sudden, I collapsed in excruciating pain. Being connected to my mind, Seth and Collin also dropped to the ground. I felt the screams of agony from the wolves in La Push. The vampire took off. It didn't even matter anymore. Because there was something wrong with Claire.

Claire was hurt. She was dying.

And this time I wouldn't be able to save her.


	27. Bad News

_A/N – Please note, this chapter contains violence against women and deals with a topic that may not be comfortable to all audiences. _

**Chapter 27 – Bad News **

Quil's POV

I wasn't sure how long I laid on the ground in crippling pain. I heard my pack brothers calling to me, begging me to get up. I could barely focus, and I had a very strong urge to throw up.

"Quil! What's going on with Claire?" Sam asked urgently.

"She's hurt…hurt bad. Our connection…it's weak. I can hardly feel it." I muttered.

Didn't they know what I was going through? Then I realized that the pack only knew that I was hurting because of Claire. I let them feel the full effect of what I was going through, and I heard Seth and Collin whimper on the ground next to me.

My mind whirled with only one thought…I had to get to Claire. I felt Sam phase to human form. I tried to concentrate and force myself to get up, but I couldn't move. I wasn't sure how long I laid there almost comatose, before I felt Sam phase back.

"A friend of my mom's has a private plane. I'm going to take Emily to Quillayute Airport and she'll meet you in California. Sue is calling the apartment complex and local hospitals right now to see if she can locate Claire. Em will probably get to California before you do, so she'll have some clothes for you in case you don't have anything. I need to work with Nate on phasing back to human form. I can't leave just yet. Quil, are you listening?"

Sam's angry voice shook me out of my trance. I muttered, "Yeah."

"Claire needs you. You need to get going."

I slowly got to my feet. I thought momentarily that I would go insane from the pain. I focused my thoughts on Claire. I needed to get to Claire. I slowly put one paw in front of the other. Soon I was running faster than I had ever gone before.

"Collin, why don't you head back to La Push? Brady and Azra will probably need help patrolling." Seth suggested. "I'm going with Quil."

"You don't have to," I told him as I concentrated on where I was running.

"Claire's my cousin. I need to be there for her…and you." Seth replied.

I didn't say anything. I couldn't even feel anything. All I could do was chant over and over again, "Gotta get to Claire."

We finally reached the state of Washington after an hour. Collin broke off to head to La Push. Seth and I continued to travel south. Sam kept phasing in and out, keeping us updated. Nate still wasn't able to phase back to human form. We could hear them talking, trying to work through it as Seth and I ran. After another 45 minutes we reached Oregon.

Half way across the state, Sam told us, "They found her Quil. She's being taken to Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank."

"What happened? Is she okay?" I asked, adrenaline making me run even faster than before. Seth could barely keep up. I already knew that Claire was alive…I could still feel our connection, but it was so weak that it terrified me.

"I don't have any other information." Sam replied. "If I do, I'll let you know."

Two hours and fifty four pain-filled minutes later, we reached the San Fernando Valley area. The sun had just started to set, so we still had to be careful to stay hidden from people's views. When we were no longer able to walk in wolf form, we decided to phase.

"I'll call Emily and let her know that your almost there," Sam said. I knew he felt relief that we were not only there, but he had just gotten Nate to successfully phase a couple of times.

Seth and I quickly shifted back to our human forms. I untied my shorts from my legs with shaking hands and pulled them on. Seth followed suit. I raced through the streets, following the connection I felt to Claire. We soon reached the hospital entrance. Emily was waiting outside with a suitcase. As soon as she saw me and Seth, she set the case on a bench that was near the entrance and opened it, pulling out a couple of t-shirts and some shoes.

"What happened?" I asked as I threw on the shirt and shoes Emily handed me.

"Quil, I need to make sure you'll stay calm," Emily whispered.

"What happened?" I repeated.

Emily eyed me warily for a moment before speaking, "Someone broke into Claire's apartment. From what the police told me, the former tenant had a violent ex-boyfriend. Apparently, he violated a restraining order against him last year, had broken into that same apartment, and attacked the girl. She ended up in the hospital for months. The guy was released from jail earlier today. The cops don't know for sure if he's the one who did it, but they haven't been able to locate him for questioning."

I felt myself go rigid, "What did he do to Claire?"

Emily sighed before turning and entering the hospital. We followed closely behind.

"He beat her up. Her left hand is broken, she has a couple of cracked ribs, and he hit her so hard that one rib pierced her lung causing it to collapse. He also slammed her head into a wall. She's in surgery right now. They had to drill into her head to release some of the pressure the injury caused, and their inserting a tube in her chest to help her lung."

Seth put a firm arm around my shoulder as my hands began to tremor. It took everything I possessed to not phase right then and there. I looked at Emily closely. She wouldn't meet my eyes.

"What aren't you telling me?"

"Her neighbors were coming home from dinner when they heard Claire scream. They broke down her door when they heard a loud bang, and the attacker took off through a window. Thankfully her one neighbor is a doctor and was able to give her immediate assistance. But her body had started to go into shock and…"

"What? What else?" I asked unsteadily when Emily paused.

"They don't know how long the man was in there with Claire. She has bruises all over her body, including the thigh area. The doctors are running a rape kit on her to see if she was sexually assaulted. Also, because her body had started to go into shock, they're worried that her brain maybe didn't get enough oxygen. There's some concern that she might have brain damage."

We reached the waiting room. I went and sat on a couch covering my face with my hands. Earlier I had felt that something wasn't right. I thought it was because Nate had phased, and the uneasiness was from being around two Alphas. How long had I felt that something was off…a few minutes…an hour…half the night? If I had just paid more attention, I would have realized that the feelings were because Claire was being tortured while I was chasing a fucking bloodsucker.

"Quil, this isn't your fault." Emily said, sitting down next to me and wrapping her arm around me.

"I was supposed to protect her. I knew something was off today. I should have known." I whispered as guilt and pain consumed me.

"This isn't your fault." Emily repeated. I just shook my head and got up and went over to a window. The sky was now dark.

"How's Gracie doing?" Seth asked. I heard Emily sigh, before she looked around the area carefully. We were in a secluded part of the waiting room.

"Well, she saw her brother, father, and best friend all turn into gigantic wolves, so you can imagine she's a little freaked out. She's staying with Sam's mother right now. I didn't think it'd be a good idea to bring her here. But I had to come. Claire's like a daughter to me. Dorothy doesn't know about Sam or the pack, so she'll at least be able to give Gracie some normalcy until I can get back and talk to her some more. I hated leaving her though…"

"Well, Ryan's there. He'll look after her in the meantime." Seth tried to comfort Emily.

"She wouldn't even look at Ryan. And anytime she did, she'd burst into tears. My Gracie's strong though. And she knows the legends of the tribe. We used to tell them to her as bedtime stories when she was little. She'll need some time, but she'll be okay. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't be here. She's like her dad…she's tough."

Seth snorted. "She's tough because she's like you. And because she is, I know she'll be okay too."

Emily smiled sadly at Seth. "Thank you Seth."

"What about Clare's parents?" I heard Seth ask.

"They're on their way. They have to drive a couple of hours to get to the closest airport."

Seth and Emily continued to talk as we waited for the next two hours. I felt like I was slowly losing my mind. I didn't know how much longer I could wait. The heat along my spine was getting stronger and stronger. If I didn't hear news soon, there was a very good chance that I would phase in the middle of the lobby. My hands started to shake badly. I looked around desperately for the closest exit, and that was when I saw a tired looking doctor approaching us.

She looked down at the clipboard in her hands and called out, "Mrs. Uley?"

Emily stood up and walked over to the doctor. Seth and I immediately flanked Emily's sides. The doctor eyed us both warily.

"I'm Dr. Aracely. I was the attending physician on your niece's surgery. The surgery went well. We were able to insert the chest tube into Claire by drilling a hole near her armpit area. The tube will help inflate her lung until it heals on its own. We were also able to relieve the pressure on her brain. We're not sure yet if the lack of oxygen her body received while in shock caused any permanent damage to the brain though. We'll know more when she wakes up--"

"Wakes up? How long will she be out?" I interrupted.

The doctor eyed me again, "Who are you?"

"I'm Claire's boyfriend."

"I can vouch for him," Emily said, putting her hand assuredly on my arm when the doctor continued to look at me suspiciously.

"Claire is in a coma right now. Comas can last anywhere from hours to years." The doctor told me.

Something must have shown on my face because the doctor suddenly gave me a pitying look. "You can go see her in a half hour. They're just moving her to a private room."

"Thank you." Emily said. The doctor left and Emily covered up her face and started to sob quietly. Seth wrapped his arm around her and brought her over to the couch.

I stood perfectly still and didn't move from my spot. I stared at the floor as I concentrated on not phasing again. Forty-two minutes later a nurse came out and said that we could see Claire. I didn't need the woman to tell me where to go. I followed the pull I felt. The others ran after me as I walked briskly down the hospital corridors.

I walked into Claire's room and froze. The nurse followed behind me with a look of surprise on her face as she had never told me which room Claire was in. I heard Emily gasp and Seth swear as they walked into the room and saw Claire for the first time.

Claire had a breathing tube inserted in her mouth, her head was covered in bandages, and her left arm was in a cast. And that wasn't all. Claire's face and body were covered in bruises. Her face was so swollen that she was barely recognizable. Cold fury raced over me. Very carefully, I walked over to the bed and picked up Claire's uninjured right hand.

Claire was left-handed. If he had to break anything, why did it have to be her writing hand, I thought inanely. My thumb brushed over Claire's bruised knuckles and that was when I felt a slight groove on her ring finger. I looked down and realized what I was feeling. Claire's ruby ring that I had given her for Christmas was gone. She never took it off, which was why I could still feel the indentation from the missing ring.

"Excuse me? Do you know where her ring is?" I asked the nurse. The nurse looked at a clipboard.

"I'm sorry. She didn't come in with any rings." The nurse replied.

"Are you sure?" I double checked.

"Yes, the only jewelry she had on were a pair of earrings." The nurse said, pulling out a drawer next to Claire's bed to show us where they had placed her jewelry.

"Thank you," I said calmly and waited for the nurse to leave. As soon as she did, I carefully picked up Claire's hand and took a deep breath in.

"What is it?" Seth asked.

"Claire hasn't taken off her ring since I gave it to her for Christmas." I told them as I smelled Claire's hand. I picked up Claire's scent immediately along with the smell of the medication that Claire had running through her system. And then I picked up a foreign scent. I latched onto that smell, memorizing it. I closed my eyes as I took one more deep breath before putting Claire's hand back gently on the bed. I felt more in control over myself than I had ever felt before.

Leaning over, I kissed her swollen cheek. "Be right back, love."

I turned and left the room. I heard Seth follow me out.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"I'm going to get Claire's ring." I responded and quickly walked out of the hospital.

I stood for a moment breathing in all the scents around me. There were too many for me to pick up in my human form. I headed towards Claire's apartment building. As I got closer, I was able to pick up the foreign scent again. Once I reached the apartment complex, I picked up the trail immediately and I followed it. It took me 15 minutes, but I tracked the smell to a bar.

I walked into the smoke infested room and looked around. I saw a measly looking man drinking by himself in a corner. He had an arrogant expression on his face that he couldn't hide, even while chugging a beer. I looked down at his hands and saw they were cut and swollen. As I stepped in his direction, I picked up Claire's scent coming off of his skin.

I walked over to him and sat down next to him. He looked at me and sneered.

"What the fuck do you want?" The bastard asked.

"I believe you stole a ring from the woman you attacked earlier. I'd like it back." I smiled at him. I smiled! Because I was going to enjoy killing this pathetic excuse of a man. The very idea of ending his life filled me with such an incredible pleasure that I wanted to throw my head back and laugh.

The man's eyes shifted down and then he looked back at me "I don't know what you're talking about, but I'd suggest you leave."

The man clutched his beer bottle in a threatening manner. I did laugh then. This man was a complete moron. I looked away from the man and looked at the exit door next to him.

Still chuckling, I said, "Well, isn't that convenient."

The man turned his head to see what I was looking at. He never had a chance to look back. I grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of his seat and threw him outside. As soon as we were in the cool night air, I pinned his arm behind his back and took him around to the back of the building. As soon as we were out of sight, I let the man go.

Once his arm was free, the idiot took a swing at me. I saw the fist fly at my face, but I didn't move as his hand made contact with my skin. His scream of pain was like music to my ears. He cradled his hand to his chest and looked at me with enraged eyes. I grabbed the man's hand with lightening speed and twisted, relishing in the sound of bones breaking. When I finally let go, it looked like the skin was the only thing keeping the hand attached to the body.

I feigned a wince, "Gee, sorry…you might end up losing that." I chuckled, before I continued, "Well, that takes care of the arm. What next?" I asked him, pausing dramatically for a moment. "Oh yeah…"

I punched him hard in the stomach. He spit up blood. The man raised his hands in front of him in a sign of defeat.

"What do you want?" He said in a pleading tone. I wasn't satisfied. I wanted him to beg on his knees before I killed him.

"I want Claire's ring back?"

"Who the fuck is Claire?"

I punched him again, this time in ribs. I heard several snaps. The pig gasped.

"I'll say it again…I want you to give me the ring you stole earlier."

The man reached into his pant pocket and pulled out the ring with shaking hands and handed it to me.

"Thank you," I told him politely. "Now, why Claire?"

When the man didn't say anything, I raised my fist to punch him again. He immediately threw his hands in front of him.

"The bitch wouldn't tell me where Anna was."

I really was going to enjoy taking his life. "One more question. Did you rape her?"

The man lost the fear on his face and arrogance crept along his demented features.

"Was she your girl?" The man sneered even as he struggled to breathe and clutched at his chest.

The pretense was over. I could feel it in the sudden loss of control throughout my entire body. Warning heat shot down my spine and I began to shake hard.

"Did you rape her?" I repeated, practically shouting.

Even in pain, the man didn't lose the cockiness. He ran his tongue over his lips in a crude manner and said, "Hmm, and she cried like a baby too."

I didn't even hesitate. I slammed the back of his head into the wall behind him. I heard a cracking noise and blood spurted out of his nose. I pulled his head away slightly and went to smash it again, when I felt something hit my body with enough force that it knocked me off my feet. I instantly phased, my clothes going everywhere, and growled. I saw Sam and Seth standing over me. I looked behind them and saw the man on the ground. He wasn't moving. Perfect! It'd make it so much easier to rip him to shreds.

Seth and Sam much have read my intention because they both quickly threw off their clothes and phased too.

"Quil, you can't do this?" Seth said.

"Watch me!" I shouted, enjoying watching them wince as they felt for the first time the rage and pain that I had been holding in check. It was now coursing through me uncontrollably.

"Claire wouldn't want you to become a murderer." Sam tried to reason. "You have to let the police deal with this."

"Wouldn't you do the same if it was Emily or Gracie?" I asked.

Sam didn't say anything for a moment. He didn't have too. I could sense the indecision in him. I turned my attention back to the man. It was time for me to kill him.

"Quil, don't do this." Sam whispered, blocking me from attacking.

I couldn't believe he was going to still try to stop me. "You're not my Alpha anymore. Now get the fuck out of my way."

"He's not, but I am."

I looked over and saw a grayish white wolf standing nearby. I bared my teeth and growled at Nate.

"You're going to let him get away with it? After what he did to Claire? Bull shit!" I yelled and I lunged again for the man, breaking past both Seth and Sam.

"Quil stop!" Nate ordered and I immediately dropped to the ground. Fury and pain from the Alpha's command made me shake as my face pressed into the ground.

"Dad, Seth, can you get that guy to the police? Or at least tell them where he is? I don't think he's going to be capable of moving anytime soon."

Seth nodded and phased. Sam looked torn between staying with his son and getting the man away from me. Finally sighing, Sam phased as well. He put his clothes back on and started to leave, but he turned and looked back at his son.

"I'll call your mother and let her know you're headed back to the hospital. Hopefully she'll have some more clothes that will fit Quil." Sam said. He went over to where Seth was and they carefully picked the man up and dragged him out of my sight. Nate looked at me.

"What were you thinking Quil? My dad said we were made to protect humans not kill them."

"That bastard doesn't deserve to live."

"Well, thanks to you, I'm sure he won't have much of a life if he does survive."

"You should have let me kill him." I shouted as fury consumed me again.

"I remember once when I was younger. I killed a bug that was in the house. Claire got really pissed at me for it. Said that even if it was just a bug, it was still a life."

I didn't say anything. I was too angry still. Nate sighed before continuing to speak.

"Look, I'm not even going to pretend that I understand the connection between you and Claire. I know it's strong, like the way my dad feels about my mom, and as much as it freaks me out, the bond that exists between Ryan and my sister. My dad didn't get a chance to tell me about--"

"It's called imprinting." I mumbled.

"What?" Nate said in confusion.

I went on to explain imprinting to Nate. As I talked about the connection I felt towards Claire and how she was my whole world, my only reason for living, I started to calm down. I told Nate about how I had imprinted on Claire when she was two, and how our feeling for each other had evolved over the years to the point where we were in love with each other now.

The longing to see Claire again became overwhelming. I was reminded of what was really important. Not the death of the pig who had harmed her, but being there for Claire. She needed me more than ever right now.

"And Ryan feels like this towards my sister and has since she was three?"

"Yep," I told him simply.

"That's just fucked up." Nate replied disgustingly. I could feel how disturbed he was and it made me almost smile.

"Just be thankful that they aren't in love yet. Then you'll have to deal with images of them kissing and shit."

"Okay, don't tell me anymore, please." Nate begged. "So…can we get going?

"Yeah," I answered.

I wanted to see Claire more than anything right now. I turned and started walking back in the direction of the hospital. To the place where I knew my imprint was waiting for me.

_**A/N – Please Review!**_


	28. Some Questions

_A/N – I'm going to take a minute to answer some questions brought up in the previous chapter._

_1) Why is Nate the Alpha? Why isn't it someone else like Quil or Seth?_

_I have three reasons for that, but I'm only going to share one. As Sam stated in Chapter 18, "I can't just turn the pack over to anyone. I have to turn it over to an Alpha male." So why didn't Quil or Seth or any of the other more experienced wolves become Alpha? Because none of them possessed the Alpha gene. You have it or you don't. Furthermore, as Jacob inherited the Alpha power from his ancestors, Nate inherited the power from his father. For whatever reason Sam was made Alpha in the first place, whether it was because he was the first person to phase, or if it was really because he was always destined to be the pack's true leader, it doesn't change the fact that Sam __**was**__ given the power and now his descendents will always have the potential to be an Alpha. At least that's how it is in my version of the saga. _

_2) Why didn't the pack let Quil kill the guy who attacked Claire?_

_The pack was trying to protect Quil, not the bad guy. If Quil murdered him right then and there and it was traced back to Quil, then he would have gone to prison. As it is, if Quil gets linked to the crime, he could still go to jail. Also, Quil would have struggled in the long run with being a murderer. The pack did the best thing for Quil. They got the bad guy out of his sight, and then Nate was able to get Quil talking about Claire, which calmed Quil down and made him refocus on what was really important…getting back to his imprint. _

_3) Will you write a story about Nate?_

_I have big plans for Nate and Gracie. I've been considering writing a story about Sam's kids, but wasn't sure of the interest. If you'd like to see their story, let me know. _

**Chapter 28 – Some Questions**

Quil's POV

"Try not to phase out of those sweats. That's the last pair I have for you," Emily told me. I smiled briefly in her direction before looking away.

We were sitting in the hospital waiting room. They were changing Claire's catheter so they asked us to step outside of the room. Seth had gone to the hospital cafeteria for some food. Nate was sitting in a chair that was next to the couch Emily and Sam were sitting on. Emily and Sam were sitting close together, holding hands. They were so in tune with each other that it hurt for me to look at them right now.

I sat in my chair with my elbows on my knees. I had Claire's ruby ring on the tip of my index finger and kept twisting it over and over again. It was so tiny that I had to be careful not to drop it. I had almost forgotten to grab the ring after I'd pummeled the bastard who'd hurt Claire. It had been in my pants pocket when I had phased back at the bar. When I remembered it, I had to search for the ring through what remained of my shredded clothes. Luckily, I was able to locate it. As soon as I did, Nate and I headed back to the hospital where Emily had been waiting outside for me with a new t-shirt and sweatpants.

"So if I'm your Alpha does that mean I get to tell you what to do?" Nate suddenly burst out, looking at his father.

"Just because you're the Alpha doesn't mean you can take advantage of it, Smartass. I'm still your father and will ground you if I need to." Sam replied. Emily chuckled softly.

"Besides," Sam continued, "You seem to be adjusting well. I think I'm going to try to stop phasing now, so you won't get a chance to order me around."

"So you're officially retiring, huh?" Seth remarked as he appeared with a tray full of food.

"Well, the pack has a new leader. You don't need me anymore." Sam replied before looking at Emily with a gentle smile. "Anyways, it's time."

We were interrupted from our discussion as two police officers appeared in the waiting room. They stopped by to talk to a nurse who pointed in our direction. The officers turned and slowly approached us.

"Are you the family members of Claire Young?" One officer asked.

"That's right," Sam spoke up.

"I'm Sergeant Glasko. This is my partner Officer Taggart. We've been assigned to Ms. Young's case. We wanted to stop by and see if she's regained consciousness yet?"

"She's still not awake," Emily replied.

The sergeant took off his hat that he was wearing. He started twisting it in his hands.

"That not all," he said. "We've had a break in the case. We received an anonymous tip, and the man who committed the attack on Ms. Young was found unconscious in a park. The DNA sample taken from underneath Ms. Young's fingernails where she scratched her assailant, matches the DNA we had on record for the suspect.

"He'll stand trial, correct?" Emily asked, anger in her voice.

"Ma'am, I don't think he'll be fit to stand trial. He was badly beaten. Whoever attacked him caused the assailant to have severe brain damage. I just spoke with the doctor who was treating him. He'll be a vegetable for the rest of his life." The sergeant spoke bluntly. "Personally, I'd like to shake the hand of the person who did it. The suspect had a rap sheet a mile long. Breaking and entering, rape, and battery were just a few of his past crimes."

The officer with the sergeant coughed. The sergeant looked at him and then cleared his throat. "The thing is…we need to ask you some questions."

The sergeant glanced over all of us, his eyes lingering on Seth and Sam.

"We were able to pick up surveillance footage from a gas station not too far from the park where the assailant was found. It's grainy and we could only make out the backs of the people who dropped the suspect off in the park. I can't help but notice that the men who were with the assailant were tall, dark, and wearing clothes similar to what you two have on," the sergeant said, looking at Sam and Seth. "Gentlemen, would you show us your hands."

"Our hands? Why?" Seth questioned.

"Given the extent of damage to the assailant's face, we know that he was hit by someone's fist. We also know that the man's attacker or attackers should have bruises on their hands given the amount of force they would have had to use to cause so much damage. You can show us your hands here or down at the station."

Sam and Seth immediately showed the police officers both sides of their hands. Sergeant Glasko then asked to see mine and Nate's. We didn't hesitate to show the sergeant our flawless, unmarked skin.

"Hmm…all right gentlemen, thank you for your time," the sergeant said. He turned and left. Officer Taggart looked stunned for a moment before trailing after his partner.

"So that's it?" The officer whispered angrily when they were far enough away. It didn't matter, we could still hear every word they said.

"Son, I've been on this force for 30 years now. As far as I'm concern, we have one less deadbeat on the street. Furthermore, you saw their hands. We know that the perp was beaten by someone's fists. They don't have any marks on their skin, and we don't even know where the beating took place. As far as I'm concerned, we have no leads here."

With that they got into an elevator and disappeared. There was a collective sigh from our group. I felt relief knowing that the asshole who hurt Claire was never going to hurt another living soul. His mind made him a prisoner in his own body. He got was he deserved as far as I was concerned.

A nurse came out to tell us that we could go in and see Claire. I jumped out of my chair and quickly walked back into Claire's hospital room. I could hear the steady beat of her heart on the heart monitor which comforted me. I grabbed a chair and sat down next to her. I picked up Claire's hand and kissed it once before putting it against my skin so that her hand was cupping my face.

I could hear Emily, Sam, Seth, and Nate all whispering to each other, but I couldn't focus on anything that was being said. I stared at Claire, hoping that her eyes would open. I held on to her hand trying to somehow transfer my strength to her. I stayed like that for an hour before I heard a commotion. I looked up and saw Ronnie and Stacy run into the room with Claire's brother Nick. He looked startled as he took in Nate's appearance.

"Dude, what are they putting in the water in La Push?" Nick murmured as he went over and hugged his younger cousin.

Nate towered over Nick. Ronnie went over and hugged his sister, Sam, Nate, and Seth. Stacy stood at the foot of the bed with her hand on Claire's foot. She turned and looked at me. I stood up and let go of Claire's hand as Stacy made her way over to me. I thought she wanted me to move so that she could kiss her daughter, so I stepped away from the hospital bed. Instead, Stacy walked right up to me and smacked me across the face.

"You bastard," Stacy started screaming, her fists now beating uselessly against my chest. "You were supposed to protect her. Where the hell were you when she needed you the most?"

Ronnie ran over and grabbed Stacy from behind, pulling her against his chest. "She's going to be okay, Stace. This isn't Quil's fault."

"Get the hell out of this room, or I'll have security throw you out." Stacy screamed at me. A nurse came running in the room with a look of alarm on her face.

I looked briefly at Stacy who was now sobbing into her husband's chest before glancing back at Claire. I nodded slowly and quickly left the room. I made my way up to the roof. There was a little garden up there. As it was two in the morning, the area was abandoned. I went over to the balcony and looked down. If I thought for one moment that I'd die from jumping, I would have done it in that second.

Stacy was right. I had failed Claire when she needed me most.

"Oh God!" I whispered.

I couldn't breathe. Huge sobs rose out of my chest and I felt my legs give out as I slid to the garden's ground. I felt like I was suffocating somehow. I couldn't get enough air inside my system. I folded my arms across my knees and put my head on them as I tried to take in a deep enough breath. The tears that I had been fighting back spilled out over my arms. If Claire didn't make it, I'd have to find _someway_ to kill myself.

"Quil," A voice called out. I jerked my head up to see Sam walking towards me. He stopped and slid down on the ground next to me.

"Stacy's just upset. She didn't mean it. She's scared and needed a way to relieve her fears." Sam told me.

"It's true though…I failed Claire."

"Bullshit. You have been there for Claire and looked out for her since the moment you saw her. What happened to her is horrible, but it's by no means your fault…you couldn't know what was going to happen to her."

"I knew something was wrong though. I felt it, but I thought it was because Nate had just turned into the Alpha."

"Quil look at me." Sam ordered. I wiped my face on my arms before I looked at him. "If you're going to blame yourself, then you have to blame the whole pack. We were all there with you, connected to your mind. None of us knew that the uneasy feeling we had was because of Claire. The only person to blame is the pig who hurt her, and he's going to be on a feeding tube for the rest of his life."

I turned my head to stare blankly at a plant that was nearby.

"What I don't understand is why you're up here when your imprint's downstairs." Sam continued somewhat angrily.

"I thought it was best to give Stacy and Ronnie some space."

Sam scoffed in disgust and stood up. "You should be with Claire right now. Stop being a pussy and get your ass off the ground. You can't change what happened, but you can be there for Claire. She's going to need you more than ever right now. I don't understand how you can be up here feeling sorry for yourself, while Claire's lying in that bed waiting for you."

With that Sam left. I stared into space for another 10 minutes before sighing. As usual, Sam was right. I needed to be there for Claire instead of thinking about my own pain. I had been there for Claire through every major event in her life. I needed to be there for her now. And no one, including Stacy, was going to keep me away.

I made my way back down to the ICU ward. As I was walking by the waiting area, I heard someone call out my name. I turned and looked and saw Stacy walking towards me with puffy red eyes.

"Quil, I'm so sorry for what I said," Stacy told me. "I was upset and I unfairly took it out on you. I didn't mean any of it…I can't apologize enough."

"It's okay Stacy, we're all upset right now," I told her. She reached over and gave me a hug.

"Claire was always unhappy unless you were around, even when she was a kid. I've never seen Claire as happy as she's been the last six months that you've been dating. She'll be furious if she hears what I said to you. Please forgive me."

"Seriously, it's okay. There's nothing to forgive." I repeated.

Stacy looked at me and smiled sadly. "Claire has always needed you, more than she has ever needed any of the rest of us. Now why don't you get in there and see her."

I nodded and tried to speak over the lump in my throat. "Thanks Stacy."

"Thank you Quil for loving Claire as much as you do." Stacy said, reaching up to pat my cheek gently before returning to the waiting room where Sam and the rest were waiting.

I walked into Claire's hospital room and saw Ronnie talking to a doctor. The guy had blond hair and blue eyes and looked more like a movie star than a doctor. I had a sneaking suspicion of who the guy was.

"Quil, this is Dr. Kennedy," Ronnie confirmed, "He's Claire's neighbor, the one who helped her. Dr. Kennedy, this is Claire's boyfriend Quil."

"Please, call me Stone," the doctor said as he walked over to shake my hand.

I shook his hand before saying, "Thank you…thank you for what you did for Claire."

"It was nothing, really," Stone replied nonchalantly. "Claire seems like a good kid. I hope she pulls through okay."

The doctor nodded to both of us and turned and left. Ronnie told me that his family was able to check into a hotel right down the road from the hospital. Ronnie, Stacy, and Nick soon left along with Sam, Emily, and Nate. Seth decided to head back to La Push. I pulled the chair in Claire's room up to her bed again and just talked to her for the rest of the night. I held her hand the entire time and every time the heart monitor would make a funny beep, I would look up hopefully at the machine, praying that it was a sign that Claire was about to wake up. Six hours didn't even go by before Stacy and Ronnie were back.

"Quil, why don't you go to our hotel room and get some sleep. It's not even a five minute walk from here." Stacy offered. I just shook my head, barely lifting my eyes from Claire. Dr. Aracely walked into the room with Claire's chart in her hand.

"Your Claire's parents, correct?" the doctor said as she shook both Ronnie and Stacy's hands.

"That right," Ronnie replied, wrapping his arm around Stacy's waist.

Looking down at the chart in her hands, Dr. Aracely looked back up, "We have the results of the rape kit."

I held my breath as I waited for the doctor to confirm what that bastard had already told me.

"The results came back negative for rape."

"So she wasn't sexually assaulted," Stacy said with relief evident in her voice.

"I wish I could say that's correct, but her tests did indicate that she was assaulted." The doctor stated.

"But you just said--" Stacy started to say.

"There are several different forms of assault. By today's standards even sexual harassment is considered a form of sexual assault."

"Maybe you should explain what happened to our daughter." Ronnie said.

The doctor looked at them evenly before saying, "We found traces of saliva on Claire's neck and breasts. There was also significant bruising on her upper thighs indicating that she was inappropriately touched in that area. As she was found naked, I would say that, given the circumstances, she was lucky that her neighbor heard her scream when he did, because the man who attacked her most likely would have raped her. If she wakes up and remembers the attack, I recommend that she get counseling."

The doctor left soon after, and Stacy and Ronnie talked quietly to themselves while they sat on a small couch in Claire's room. Visitors started pouring in throughout the day. Claire's friends from her youth, Ashley and Amber, stopped by for a visit. Apparently Amber was attending school about an hour away, and Ashley had been down visiting her when they heard that Claire had been attacked.

The girls were in the middle of sharing their favorite memories of Claire when Lindsey and Collin walked in. Amber immediately went over to them and hugged them both. Ashley hung back. She briefly hugged Lindsey, but only nodded in Collin's direction before she quickly left the room. After that, the visitor flow slowed down.

Days went by and there was still no change in Claire. They had hooked her up to life support which included a feeding tube and ventilator. Every few hours, a pulmonologist would come in and run a small plastic tube through the ventilator which would make Claire cough. They said that was a good sign, but it only made my hands shake. It sounded like Claire was coughing up her injured lung and I hated seeing her in pain.

One week exactly after the attack, Dr. Aracely came in while Sam, Emily, Claire's parents, and I were in Claire's room.

"We have some concern that Claire isn't responding to our reflex tests. We'd like to do an MRI to see if her brain is still active."

"And if it's not?" Emily whispered.

The doctor paused as a brief flash of sorrow crossed her face. "I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but if the tests come back that Claire's brain is no longer functioning, you may want to consider taking her off life support. If it comes to that, we can discuss organ donation as an option."

The doctor walked out and a few minutes later a couple of orderlies came in and took Claire out of the room so they could do the MRI. Feeling restless, I told everyone I was going down to the cafeteria. I hadn't really eaten anything recently. I also wasn't sleeping very well. I slept at the hospital every night in Claire's room. I only ever left the hospital to take showers at Ronnie and Stacy's hotel room.

I walked through the hospital corridors and finally reached the cafeteria. I looked at the display of food they had outside the entrance and felt my stomach turn. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to handle food, I made my way back the way I came. As I walked, I noticed a door marked "Chapel" on it. Looking at it briefly, I opened the door and walked in.

It was a tiny room with no windows. It was also empty. I looked around and took in the room's features. In one corner was a table with a lamp and bible on it. In another corner was a rug where people of Islamic faith could pray. Across the room was a Jewish Menorah. And in the middle of the room was a cross tacked on the wall. I sat down in a chair that was in front of the cross. It was medium size and made of brass. The low lighting of the room glinted off of it. I stared at it for a moment

"So I know I haven't spoken to you a lot," I started, "And it's hypocritical of me to be in here asking you for a favor now, but Claire needs a miracle."

I stared at the cross, swallowing hard over the lump in my throat before speaking again, "Please, I'm begging you. Please don't take Claire away from me. Please heal her. She's the most important person in my world. I can't live without her in my life. I _need_ her. And she's too young…she has so much life left to live…so much to accomplish still. Please don't take that away from her. Please don't take Claire away. Please…"

My voice broke and I couldn't continue. I buried my face in my hands and silently begged, "please don't take her away…please give us a miracle."

Finally, after a half an hour, I got up and made my way slowly back up to the ICU ward. When I got to the corridor where Claire's room was, I froze. At the end of the hall, I saw the doctor talking to Ronnie, Stacy, Emily, and Sam. Sam and Emily had their backs to me. I watched as the doctor reached out and squeezed Ronnie's arm, before she turned and left. Stacy buried her face into Ronnie's chest and started sobbing. Sam wrapped his arm around Emily, hugging her close.

I felt all my strength leave me as I collapsed against the wall.

So much for a miracle.

_A/N - Let me know if you'd be interested in reading Nate and Gracie's story._


	29. Saying Goodbye

**Chapter 29 – Saying Goodbye**

Quil's POV

_I walked into the Peach Pit and looked around. A jukebox sitting in the corner was playing the classic theme song to Beverly Hills, 90210. How the hell did I get in the middle of a bad 90s television show?_

_I looked over and saw Brandon, David, and Steve eating food at a booth. I cursed my older sister for making me watch that show when I was a kid. I shouldn't know these idiots' names. On the other side of the diner sat Kelly, Donna, and….Claire!_

_I tried to walk over to her, but I couldn't seem to move. I stared at her as she threw her head back and laughed, her long hair spilling over her shoulders. She looked incredible. My heart beat sped up as I heard her sweet voice speak to the other girls._

"_Can I help you?" _

_I looked over and saw Nat looking at me from behind the diner's counter. I shook my head and turned my attention back to Claire. Kelly and Donna had disappeared, and in their place was Dylan. He sat next to Claire, kissing her neck. I felt myself start to shake. I wondered briefly what would happen if I ripped his sideburns off his face. Would his head explode?_

_The show's theme song started getting louder and louder. I couldn't take it anymore. I ran over to the jukebox and punched it as hard as I could. The power immediately went off, but the music kept blaring._

"_Quil?"_

_I turned around and there she was. _

"_Claire?" I reached out to her, but my hand went right through her. It was as though she were a ghost already. They said she was brain dead. That there was nothing else they could do for her. But I didn't think it would be over so soon! _

"_I have to leave now Quil," Claire told me sadly._

"_No," I replied stubbornly._

_Claire smiled gently. "It's time."_

"_No Claire."_

_The song started getting so loud that the sound waves burst from the jukebox behind me. Their appearance reminded me of the rippling effect that happens when a rock is dropped into a still body of water. I was suddenly surrounded. The music had trapped me in some type of clear, reverberating prison. _

_I could see pictures falling off the walls of the diner as the waves continued on their destructive path. The roof started to collapse in all around us and sunlight poured in from the new opening above. The sun enveloped Claire, casting her in a bright light. I tried to reach for her, but I couldn't break free of my confinement. I pounded uselessly against the barrier that separated me from my imprint._

"_Claire!"_

_Claire looked up at the sky. The light was so bright that her entire body looked blindingly white. She looked back at me and smiled again._

"_It's time for me to go now," Claire spoke in a calm, quiet voice. She started walking backwards towards the center of the light, but she never took her eyes off my face._

_I could hardly hear her response. Everything sounded muffled to me…everything except for that stupid damn theme song. Claire took another step backwards, making it harder for me to see her. I felt panic fill me as my hands continued to beat against the invisible wall between us._

"_No Claire! Don't leave me!" I shouted._

"_I love you Quil. I always will." Claire promised. She took one more step back and disappeared completely from my view. She was gone! I had lost her forever._

"No!"

I jerked awake, but I could still hear the 90210 theme playing loudly. I looked over in confusion and saw that the TV in Claire's hospital room was blaring. The noise was coming from there. I must have fallen asleep while watching TV last night and now that show was on.

I looked over to the side of Claire's bed where my head had been resting. Apparently I had been using the TV's remote control as a pillow and had somehow turned up the volume in my sleep. I quickly reached over and turned the TV's volume down before hitting the off switch.

I rubbed my hand tiredly over my face before looking at Claire. I didn't think I would ever forget how I felt when I saw Stacy sobbing in Ronnie's arms the night we received Claire's MRI results. Going by the reactions of Claire's family, I had known without them telling me that Claire was brain dead. I had collapsed against the wall and stayed there until I felt someone shake my arm. I'd opened my eyes to see Nate standing next to me.

"You okay?" Nate had asked.

"Claire's test…"

"Oh…" Nate said with understanding dawning on his face. "It came back okay."

"What?" I'd asked him to repeat himself.

"The test showed that her brain is still active."

I'd nodded slowly before walking into Claire's room to see her with my own eyes. I had felt enormous relief that they'd already brought her back from her MRI. I had gone to her immediately and kissed the side of her head, whispering a "thank you" for my miracle. I hardly had left her side since. However, in the week since Claire's MRI was conducted, there had been little change.

Nate, Emily, and Sam had decided to return to La Push a couple of days ago. Nate and Gracie had school starting up again, so the Uleys' decided it was time to head back. I knew how much Emily hated the idea of leaving Claire, but she still had to deal with her daughter when she got home. According to Ryan when he called Emily for an update, Gracie was currently not speaking to him.

Emily knew she was needed at home. Sam decided to rent a car and drive the family back to the reservation so that they could take Claire's items from her apartment with them. Sam and Emily had gone to Claire's place and had packed everything up the day before they left. Even if Claire woke up soon and was completely healed, her apprenticeship was finished. Before they left, the Uleys' had stopped by the hospital one last time so that Emily could drop off some of Claire's clothes…just in case Claire woke up and needed something to wear home from the hospital.

I sighed as I looked back at Claire. Would she wake up? I was still feeling unsettled by my dream. I heard a noise outside of Claire's room and looked up as the pulmonologist walked in.

"Hey Quil, how's it going today?" She asked.

"No changes yet, Dr. B." I replied.

Dr B. told me when I first met her that I could either call her Dr. Benner, Dr. B or Mrs. B., she didn't care which. The woman was probably only a few years older than me, but I decided on the informal "Dr. B." It was hard to be formal with a doctor who wore tie-dye scrubs.

The doctor hit some buttons on Claire's life support and then did the test that made Claire cough. I cringed as I heard Claire make a gagging noise. The doctor put her stethoscope in her ears and listened to Claire's chest. After a few moments, she smiled and nodded her head with satisfaction.

"I think we're going to take the tube that's supporting Claire's lung out of her chest. I'm satisfied that the lung no longer needs the support. We're also going to take Claire off the ventilator and see how she does breathing on her own with just an oxygen mask."

Looking at me from across Claire's bed, she reached over and put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, this is good news. Try looking happy, okay?" Dr. B. stated. I nodded and pasted a sickly smile across my face. The doctor just shook her head. "We're going to need you to step outside while we remove the tube and ventilator. You can come back here in an hour."

I nodded and got up slowly from my chair. As I stood, I could hear the bones crack in my back from sitting still for so long. I leaned over and kissed Claire's forehead, before making my way out to the lobby where Ronnie, Stacy, and Nick were just arriving. I briefly explained to them what the doctor had told me. I decided that since I had an hour, I'd run to the hotel and take a quick shower and get something to eat.

As soon as I got to the hotel room, I stepped into the shower, letting the hot water run over my skin as I tried to relax. It wasn't easy. I had very little sleep lately, and I knew that I wasn't eating enough. I couldn't eat even if I wanted to. Whenever I tried, my stomach would twist. It didn't matter anyway. Nothing mattered but Claire. I quickly finished my shower and got dressed.

Luckily for me, Emily had gone shopping before she left and had bought me some clothes. I threw on some jeans, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes, and headed back to the hospital. I grabbed a bagel from the hospital's coffee shop and made my way to ICU waiting room. Claire's family was still waiting. Damn, I didn't waste enough time. I went and sat down next to Nick and picked at my bagel.

"So is Cora coming home?" I asked.

"She wanted to, but money is tight right now." Ronnie told me.

"I could loan her the money if she needs it." I offered.

Ronnie shook his head. "Thanks Quil, but you're already splitting the bill for the hotel room, which you only use to shower in. You don't need to keep paying for our family. Besides Claire is in critical but stable condition. If she gets worse, then we'll get Cora home."

I looked over to where the glass doors of ICU unit were. I could feel the pull to Claire, even with her comatose. I was feeling restless though. I wanted to see her…to touch her. I wanted it so badly that my skin began to hurt.

To distract myself from my painful longing, I turned my attention back to Ronnie. "I haven't seen Cora in awhile. What's she up to nowadays?

"She just finished up an internship with some prestigious law firm in Chicago. Her classes for the new school semester started a few days ago."

I smiled briefly as I thought of Cora. "She'll make an excellent lawyer."

Ronnie and Stacy both chuckled as they thought of their eldest daughter.

"And how are Roger and Eva?" I asked about Ronnie and Emily's parents.

"Still on that cruise, but I'm giving them daily updates." Ronnie replied.

The nurse soon came out and told us we could go back in. I threw my bagel in the garbage and went back into Clare's room. I leaned my forehead against hers so that I could breathe in her scent without being too conspicuous about it. I stayed only a short time, before leaving to head up to the rooftop garden again.

As much as I wanted to spend every second I could with Claire, I also wanted to give her family some private time with her. I reached the garden and went over to the railing and looked out at the mountains. I couldn't forget that dream I had earlier. It had left me with an uneasy feeling. Was Claire trying to tell me something?

I tried to think positive though. She was off the ventilator now. If she was able to breathe on her own with only the oxygen mask assisting her, then that was definitely a step in the right direction. I stayed up in the garden for an hour trying to reassure myself, before I finally gave into temptation and went back down to see my imprint.

As I walked into Claire's room, I noticed that Nick had left. He usually only hung out at the hospital for a few hours, before he would head back to the hotel. Nick was having a hard time seeing his sister in this condition. Emily and Sam had offered to take Nick back with them to La Push, but he had refused. He wanted to be close by in case there was a change in Claire, good or bad.

"Hey Quil, Ronnie and I are going to get something to eat. Do you want anything?" Stacy asked.

"No thank you."

Stacy sighed and walked over to me, kissing me on top of my head. "You won't do yourself or Claire any good if you make yourself sick from not eating. You've lost a lot of weight these past two weeks."

I hadn't realized that it was noticeable. "Okay, a sandwich might be good then."

"That's better," Stacy smiled and squeezed my arm, before she left with Ronnie.

I picked up Claire's hand and brushed my lips back and forth against it. I watched her chest rise and fall as she took in air on her own. Who would have ever thought that seeing someone do something as simply as breathing could bring such relief? I put Claire's hand back on the bed and began tracing patterns on it with my fingers.

"Claire-bear, it's time to get up." I told her, using her nickname that always made her react. I moved her hand so that I could hold it firmly in mine. "Please squeeze my hand so that I know you can hear me."

I glanced down at her hand. Nothing! No pressure or anything else to show me that she was still with me. I moved my head down so that I could kiss her hand again, before looking back at her.

"So…I know this is bad timing on my part, but have I ever told you how much I love you? You've been the biggest part of my life since you were two. You've gone from being the kid I used to look after to my best friend.

And then one day I looked at you in a dorm room…_really_ looked at you, you know…and I realized I had fallen in love with you. It took me a long time to wake up to what I was feeling, Claire, and I'm sorry about that. And now that I know how I feel, I don't know what I'll do without you. So please, _please _wake up. I need you to wake up so I can tell you how much I love you face to face. I want to see your eyes turn to warm chocolate the way they do. I want to hear you laugh and call me an idiot for not telling you how I felt earlier."

Still no reaction. I sighed as I clung to her hand. "Please give me that chance. Please wake up Claire."

I pleaded like this for several more days. Nothing I said helped. And then one day while Stacy and I were chatting quietly in Claire's room, a nurse came in to change a bag attached to the end of Claire's bed. He noticed something that made him pause. He left the room and came back in minutes later with Dr. Aracely. The doctor put on some vinyl gloves and picked up the bag that contained stool.

"What's going on?" Stacy asked in a nervous voice.

"There's blood in Claire's stool which means she's bleeding internally somewhere. It could mean nothing, just dried blood from her injuries that has finally passed through her system. Or it could mean that one of her wounds has reopened. If that's the case, we're going to need to do exploratory surgery to see if we can locate the cause of blood. I don't like to do that while the patient's in this current condition, so we'll wait and see if the blood loss continues."

The doctor left and Stacy went out to call Ronnie who was still at the hotel with Nick. I looked at Claire and shook my head.

"What? Aren't your current problems enough for you? Did you think you needed a new challenge?

I heard a sudden loud beep come from the machine that was monitoring Claire's blood pressure. I froze in fear as I watched the numbers suddenly drop. Claire was losing her battle to live.

The nurse and Dr. Aracely came running back into the room. The doctor started yelling out orders and the nurse quickly injected something into Claire's IV. The numbers slowly started to climb back up to indicate a normal blood pressure reading. The nurse watched the machine for a few more minutes and then grabbed the clipboard near Claire's bed and made some notes on it.

"What caused the blood pressure to drop?" I asked in a panicked tone.

"I'm not sure, but it's possibly from the internal bleeding. We'll need to monitor that closely." Dr. Aracely responded in a frustrated tone.

After the doctor and nurse conferred for a moment, they both turned and left. I moved my chair so that I was even closer to the bed. I stared at my imprint's face. The swelling had gone down slightly, but the bruises still looked hideous. I felt desperation rush over me as I stared at her.

"Are you giving up on me? Should I be saying goodbye to you?" I asked over the sudden lump in my throat. "Because I can't _do_ that. I can't give up on you. And I won't let you give up either, do you hear me? Because if you go, I go too. Is that what you want?"

I held my breath. I expected Claire to sit up, rip her oxygen mask off, and tell me to shut the hell up. But she didn't move. I began getting angry.

"This is fucking bullshit! You've never been selfish in your entire life. If you die on me that will be the most selfish thing you could possibly do. Because I can't live without you and I'll follow you. I'll follow you no matter where you go, just like I've always followed you. So if you don't want me to die, you're going to have to wake up."

My anger dissolved and was replaced with deep, abiding grief. I resorted to begging since anger didn't work.

"I need you Claire. Please don't leave me. Please don't."

My voice finally broke as I gave in to the terror I felt and gut-wrenching sobs consumed me. I laid my head on her bed next to her thigh. I moved so that my head was against her hand. I turned her hand over and put my lips against her palm. I kissed that area over and over again, and between each kiss I begged her to keep fighting, to not to leave me.

I kept looking at the machines she was attached to, trying to see if there was any change to indicate that she was waking up. But there was nothing different. Claire's life clung precariously between life and death. Because I knew that's what it boiled down to. She was no longer in stable but critical condition. She was just critical. I put my head wearily back down on the bed.

I placed her hand so that it rested on top of my hair. I wrapped my hand loosely around her wrist to keep her hand firmly against me. I ended up falling asleep like that. And for days afterwards, any time I'd get sleepy, I slept in that pose with her hand against my hair. I needed that contact with her.

Claire's bleeding stopped on its own and her blood pressure remained stable, but that was the only good news. There were no other improvements. So it came as a surprise to me when I felt light pressure on my hair one night, almost a month after the attack.

Jolting awake, I looked around the room to see who was in there with us. But it was just me and Claire. I looked over at her and saw a single tear run down the side of her face. My hand was still against her wrist when I felt it move. I let go and glanced down at her hand. I saw Claire's fingers curl into a feeble fist.

I shook my head to wake myself up. Looking back at Claire's face, I saw her eyes flutter open and then close immediately as though the light above her head hurt her.

"Claire," I whispered. Her eyes opened again and she winced. Claire turned her head slightly and looked at me. It took her a minute, but I saw her eyes focus slowly on me.

"Am I dreaming?" I had to ask.

Her hand opened so that it was palm up on the bed. I put my hand carefully in hers. Her fingers closed weakly on mine.

It wasn't a strong pressure, but it was enough. My Claire had come back to me.

**_A/N – P_**_**lease review**__!_


	30. Recovering Slowly

**Author's Note**

_Thank you again to everyone who left me feedback on my previous chapter. I was excited to receive a record high amount of reviews. I decided to post a third chapter this week as a way to say thanks! The previous chapter was not easy for me to write, and I was glad to see it touched so many of you. _

_I wanted to take a quick moment to answer some questions/comments I've received: _

_1) If you wrote a story involving Gracie, would she still be young? And what about Embry?_

_Embry's story is coming first. It's already planned out, and I've even started the first chapter. If I decide to go ahead with a story on Nate and Gracie/Ryan, it will take place down the road meaning that Gracie will be older. I don't want to write another story about a wolf dealing with a young imprint. It's already been done in this story. _

_2) Will we see the Cullens again?_

_Let's just say I haven't forgotten about the Cullens. You'll see them more in Embry's story. _

_Now on to the chapter…_

**Chapter 30 – Recovering Slowly**

Quil's POV

They say time heals all wounds. They must have meant the physical kind, because emotionally, time didn't heal shit for Claire.

After waking up from her coma, Claire spent another month in the hospital. She was transferred to a rehabilitation center because her muscles had been weakened from lying comatose for a month. Thankfully, they moved her to a place in Port Angeles, so she had a steady stream of people coming to visit her. Normally, Claire would have been ecstatic to see her friends and family. But she wasn't. Claire didn't seem to like being around people anymore. She couldn't even muster up a smile for them, because her emotional well being was in ruins.

Mentally, however, she was okay. She remembered everything up until when the pig slammed her head into the wall. She'd told the doctor with a blank look on her face that she remembered him breaking into the apartment. She also remembered being assaulted though she never went into details. But once he slammed her head into the wall, she didn't remember a thing until she woke up in the hospital.

The only physical problem that Claire suffered was that her hand had permanent nerve damage from where it was broken. She could barely hold a pen and had trouble writing her name. She spent time in the rehabilitation center not only trying to get feeling back in her damaged hand, but also learning to write her name with her other hand.

What concerned me the most though was the emptiness in Claire's eyes. It was like Claire was there physically, but emotionally she was lost in a prison of her own demons. I tried to be there for her, but she shut me out. All I wanted to do was wrap her in my arms and never let go, especially after I had been so close to losing her already, but Claire cringed whenever anyone touched her.

What Claire truly needed was to discuss what that man did to her, but she wouldn't speak of it. In fact, she refused all forms of psychological treatment the hospital offered. They offered to let her speak one-on-one with a counselor. She wouldn't do it. They offered to arrange for her to go to a support group for victims of sexual assault. She wouldn't hear of it.

And since she wouldn't get help, I talked to the doctors instead. I wanted to do whatever I could to help Claire. I was told I had to wait until she was ready to talk. That victims needed someone to listen to them without placing blame or judgment. No problem there. I knew exactly where the blame went and that person was currently a vegetable.

The most important thing they stressed to me was that I couldn't tell Claire what to do. They said that sexual assault rips away a victim's self worth and power. Claire was going to need to choose to take back her life by making her own decisions. So not matter how frustrated I was by the barrier that existed between us now, I tried to be patient and just be there for her whenever she needed me.

With that mind set firmly in my head, I made my way to the rehabilitation center one day. I walked into Claire's room and felt my heart leap as I noticed she wasn't in her room. I had to remind myself that Claire was safe and no longer in danger. She was probably out somewhere and that was why she was gone.

Taking a deep breath, I followed the pull that linked me to Claire. I found her sitting in the center's garden. She was sitting on a bench, staring blankly into space. The look of misery on her face tore at my heart.

"Hey," I said as I sat down next to her. She stiffened instantly

"Hey," Claire replied, looking at the ground. I sighed in frustration.

"So where's your wheelchair?" I asked. She had been using a wheelchair over the past few weeks to help her get around while her legs tried to regain their strength.

"The physical therapist wants me walking around on my own. He doesn't think I need it anymore."

"That's a good sign, right?" I said encouragingly.

She didn't say anything, just continued to stare off in the distance. I wanted to grab her shoulders and force her to look at me, but I knew I couldn't. I was beginning to feel fear.

What if we went through all of this and I lost her anyway? What if Claire couldn't come back from this? I had to have faith because Claire was one of the strongest people I knew. She'd recover from this. I had to believe that.

It started to sprinkle slightly, but Claire didn't make any motions to get up. She tilted her head and closed her eyes as the rain beat against her skin. Her face looked like its normal beautiful self. The bruises had finally gone away. If it wasn't for the new lines of sadness on her face, I would never have guessed what she had gone through.

She turned her head and looked at me. "I should get back inside."

I jumped up instantly and held out my hand to her. She looked at it for a moment before taking it. Claire stood up slowly and was slightly wobbly when she got up. I went to let go of her hand, but she held onto it as we walked. My heart soared. This was the longest physical contact we had had since she had woken up.

We went back to her room where I spent the rest of the afternoon teaching Claire how to play poker. As we played, her shoulders lost some of the rigidness that they always seemed to carry anymore. And when it was time for me to leave, I thought she looked slightly disappointed to see me go. I felt hope in that look.

Of course that hope was dashed several days later when I received a call from Emily. She told me that she had brought Claire back to their home in La Push and Claire wasn't seeing anyone. I knew that Claire wanted to return to La Push not Makah, but I thought I'd be the one bringing her back. I went over to the Sam's house after receiving Emily's call.

"So they released her from the hospital early, huh?" I said to Emily.

"Yeah, I was visiting with her when the doctor said they were releasing her."

"Did Claire say anything?" I asked.

"She didn't say anything on the way home. Once we got here, all she said was that she wanted to be left alone." Emily told me.

"Well, maybe I'll just stop by and say hi real quick." I replied, already heading towards the stairs.

"I told her that you'd probably want to see her once she got here. She said she didn't want to see _anyone._"

"Oh…okay." Disappointment hit me strong and fierce. I turned and slowly started making my way to the front door.

"Quil, I was about to make some coffee. Would you stay and have a cup?" Emily asked sympathetically.

"No thanks Em," I responded. "I'll think I'll go for a run."

I was leaving when Gracie walked into the house. She had her head down so she wasn't paying attention to where she was going. She ran straight into me. She jerked her head up and her eyes went wide at the sight of me.

"Whoa, you okay Gracie?" I asked, holding my hands out to steady her.

She jumped back and plastered herself against the wall. Why did I suddenly feel like I had developed leprosy? First Claire and now Gracie. Sighing, I walked out of the house. I could hear Emily scold her daughter.

"Gracie, you've known Quil your entire life. How could you act that way?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know if he was going to turn into a big, hairy beast on me."

"Oh, Gracie." Emily said somewhat impatiently.

"I'll be in my room doing homework," Gracie responded. I could hear her stomp up the stairs.

As I continued to walk towards my car, I glanced over and saw Ryan leaning against a tree at the end of Sam's driveway. He looked as bad as I felt. He had dark circles under his eyes, and he looked like he was under tremendous strain.

"Hey Ryan, what's up?" I asked as I walked over to him.

Ryan just shook his head, "I can't even get her to look at me. She's my best friend and she won't even acknowledge my existence."

"Well, you did phase right in front of her."

"To save her father from getting attacked by her brother!"

"She's only a teen, she'll come around." I told him, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Just like you and Claire?"

"You can't compare teenage angst to what Claire's going through," I replied defensively.

"You're right, I'm sorry." Ryan immediately apologized. "How's she doing anyway?"

"She's here, but she's not seeing anyone."

"She'll come around," Ryan repeated my words to me. I smiled and got into my car to drive home. Once I got there, I ended up phasing and going for a run.

It started a daily pattern for me. I'd work, go over to see Claire, would be told she wasn't seeing anyone, and then I'd go for a run. Something dawned on me while I was in the middle of running one day.

I realized that as much as I wanted to give Claire the time to take control back over her life, I wasn't going to let her waste away in some dark room either. With that in mind, I went home and showered before walking over to Sam and Emily's determined to see Claire. I walked into their house and went straight up to Emily.

"I'm going up to see Claire," I told her stubbornly.

Emily smiled in return. "Okay."

"What?" I asked in surprise. I would have thought she would fight me on this.

"I'm worried about her too." Emily said, looking up at the ceiling. "She doesn't eat unless food's brought to her. I told her one evening that she would have to join us downstairs for dinner, and she just skipped the meal. She's not sleeping. Anytime I go into her room, she's just lying on her bed staring at the wall. And she's keeps taking showers."

"Showers?"

"She takes three or four showers a day." Emily told me with tears in her eyes. "Maybe you can reach her."

I nodded and walked up the stairs. I headed towards the room Claire was using and knocked once. When I didn't get a reply, I let myself in. I found Claire exactly how Emily described her. She was lying on her bed, staring at the wall. She didn't even look up when I entered.

"Hey," I said.

I walked over to the table next to the bed and reached into my pants pocket, pulling Claire's ruby ring out. I had remembered to grab it before I came over. It was time it was returned to her. I had taken the ring into a jewelry shop in Port Angeles and had them professionally clean it. I didn't want any fingerprints or traces of that man on her ring. I put it on the bedside table.

"Mind if I join you?" I asked cautiously. Claire didn't respond for a second before she scooted closer to the wall.

"I'm going to lie down next to you, okay?" I didn't want to make her feel trapped or uncomfortable. Claire's response was to scoot over some more.

I laid down beside her, before turning carefully on my side and scooting behind her so that her back was against my chest. She froze for a minute and I could hear her breathing turn into short, panicked breaths. If the guy who'd hurt her had been in front of me in that moment, nothing would have stopped me from killing him.

When I felt Claire relax, I put an arm gently around her. After what seemed like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, Claire put her hand on top of mine and pulled me so that my arm was wrapped even tighter around her.

"I hired Brady today." I told her, trying to start up a conversation. "He lost his job at the factory he worked at. He doesn't know much about auto repair, but Ryan and Azra are taking him under their wing."

"That's good," Claire muttered. She didn't say anything else, so I continued talking.

"You know Claire…have you ever thought about going back to school?"

"School?" Claire laughed bitterly, "I can't even draw a straight line."

_Nice job dumbass!_ "I meant you could go for something else…graphic design or something."

Claire just shook her head and continued to stare at the wall.

"So…Emily said that you've been taking a lot of showers lately." I said casually and cursed myself when I felt her stiffen again. "Claire, I'm always here for you if you want to talk."

She didn't say anything, so we laid together in silence.

"I just feel so dirty." Claire finally whispered. I didn't say anything, just held her close. "I keep feeling him on me. He…he kept touching me…and I-I tried to fight him off, but he was so strong…"

Claire covered her face with her hands, but she didn't cry. It was like she was trying to block out the images.

"He kept asking where this girl was…I told him I didn't know who she was…and he said that if he couldn't have her…I'd do."

I started to shake, but I continued to hold Claire close to me.

"He ripped off my shirt and bra and put his mouth all over me." Claire said, wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand. "I begged him to leave me alone…_I begged_…and he said he liked it when girls begged."

I felt her begin to tremble, but I didn't know if the shaking was because of her or me.

"And then he forced my pants down…and he started touching me…and I couldn't get him to stop…"

I lifted my head and saw Claire's eyes staring widely at the wall. There was no expression in them. It was as though she were numb inside.

"It hurt so much, and I screamed. I don't remember anything after that…what else did he do to me?" Claire said with a panicked note in her voice.

"Nothing," I assured her. "Your neighbor came in when he heard you scream and the attacker took off."

Claire was quiet, before she continued. "Every time I close my eyes I can see his face. I can hear his voice. No matter how many showers I take, I can still feel his hands on my skin. I feel so disgusting and damaged."

I moved my mouth so that it was an inch from her ear. Whispering into it, I let her know, "He'll never touch you or anyone else again. I can guarantee that."

Claire froze before she turned in my arms to look at me. For the first time in so long, I saw life spark in her eyes.

"I heard that they found him and someone had beaten him up. That it was so bad that he's brain damaged now…is that true?"

"Yes," I told her simply.

"Did you do that to him?"

"Yes." I didn't even hesitate.

Claire stared at me for a moment, before reaching up to cup the side of my face. "I'm glad."

She moved her hands and pushed against my chest so that I was flat on my back. Claire crawled up and positioned herself so that she could press her nose against my neck. I felt her take a long comforting breath.

I felt our connection suddenly become stronger than it had ever been before. It was like she was slowly coming back to life in my arms. I didn't know if the change in her was because she knew that the man who'd hurt her got what he deserved, or if it was because she'd finally spoken about what had happened.

Or maybe it was because a part of her realized that she was no longer fighting these inner demons by herself. Perhaps on some subconscious level she'd heard me say while she was comatose that I'd follow her anywhere, including to hell and back. All I knew for sure was that she was clinging to the arm I had around her. Needing me as much as I needed her.

"And you're not damaged." I told her after a moment, kissing her on the head. "You're bruised, but not broken…and bruises heal."

"I feel so mad." Claire admitted.

I suddenly got an idea that I was very excited about. I sat up quickly, bringing Claire up with me.

"Will you do me a favor?" I asked. She nodded slowly.

"Put on some comfortable clothes and I'll be back to pick you up in an hour."

"I don't know…" Claire said, biting her lip.

"Please." I pleaded.

"Alright," Claire replied.

I leaned forward and kissed her forehead before jumping off the bed and heading down the stairs. I got in my car and headed to Newton's Olympic Outfitters in Forks. Getting what I needed, I went back to my house and got everything ready before heading back to Sam's. I knocked on the door and waited for Claire.

She opened it and stared at me. I saw Emily in the background. She mouthed a "thank you" to me. I nodded before looking back at Claire.

"You ready to go?"

"Okay," Claire replied.

We got into my car and headed towards my house. I took her hand and led her through the house. I felt her tense as we passed the bedroom, but I kept on walking until we were in the backyard. Claire stopped and looked at what I had done.

"What is this?" Claire asked.

"It's a punching bag," I replied and walked over to where I had set the bag up. It was attached to a tree.

"I know what it is…but I don't understand why." Claire responded.

"You said you were mad. I figured if you ever felt the need to punch something, you could come over here and get a workout." I told her, turning to punch the bag.

The bag ricocheted around. The tree limb that the bag was attached to groaned in protest. I grabbed the bag and steadied it. Claire looked at me before walking over to the bag and giving it a little punch.

"No, no, no…you're hitting like a girl." I said. Claire snorted. "This is how you punch."

I took her hand gently in mine and formed it into a tight fist, making sure the thumb was tucked so that it was protected. I showed her a couple of ways to hit and then turned and left. As soon as I walked out of view, I heard the punching begin.

I went into my room and watched from a place that I knew Claire wouldn't see me. She started off tentatively punching and then she began hitting the bag in earnest.

"Bastard," Claire muttered as she hit the bag with her right hand.

"Son of a bitch," Claire said, hitting the bag again.

She punched it over and over again, finally hitting it with both hands. All she could do with her left hand was swat at it feebly. After several more hits, Claire collapsed to the ground. She covered her face in her hands and started crying for the first time since she had been attacked.

As much as it pained me, I didn't go to her. Instead, I turned away from the window and walked into the kitchen to prepare some dinner for us. I gave Claire this time to herself. The dam had broken. Her emotions had finally come to the surface full force. It was the first step to taking control back over her life. And it was something she needed to do on her own.

Claire didn't heal overnight. In fact, it took months before she started to get her life back on track. She stared helping me out in the garage, answering phones. Everyday after work, she would come over to my house and would punch the bag. She joined a support group for sexual assault victims and took a self defense class offered by Chief Swan.

And with Claire on the mend, I began to plot. I didn't have any plans to rush her into anything she wasn't ready for, but I didn't want us to go back to the friends' stage of our relationship either. I began to plan ways to get our relationship back on track. I'd take it slow, but I wasn't giving up on it either.

Six months after the attack, we had a warm front come through the state of Washington. Even though it was the middle of February, the nice weather helped me come up with the perfect date for us. I had it all worked out.

Of course when I started the day off I had no way of knowing…no way of even anticipating…how it was going to end.


	31. New Developments

_A/N – I'm glad we're to this part of the story. I've been planning it for a long time…I hope you enjoy it._

**Chapter 31 – New Developments**

Quil's POV

I went to Sam's house and knocked on the door before letting myself in. It was a nice clear day, though we were supposed to get a bad thunderstorm later. I let myself in and walked towards the kitchen. I saw Sam, Emily, and Ryan sitting around the table. Ryan had his face in his hands.

"She'll come around Ryan, it's just Gracie's age." Emily assured him.

"It's been months," Ryan said tiredly, before looking at Sam. "She's talking to you and Nate."

"Yeah, she is, but it's not the same as before," Sam replied sadly. "Besides, our situation is different. We're her blood and we live with her. She doesn't really have a choice but to talk to us."

"What should I do? Should I force her to talk to me?" Ryan asked.

Sam snorted, "When has anyone ever forced Gracie to do anything? She's too stubborn."

"She's like her father," Emily added with a smirk.

"Hey!" Sam replied before picking up Emily's scarred hand and holding it in his.

They looked at each other for a moment, but their expressions said so much. Sam and Emily were the best example of what imprint love was all about. All they had to do was hold hands and you felt like a voyeur spying on something intimidate.

"Just give her time Ryan," Emily said, looking away from Sam. I cleared my throat to make my presence known.

"Hi Quil," Emily smiled at me.

"Morning everyone…Claire ready yet?" I asked.

"She's been moving around upstairs for the past half hour so she's at least out of bed." Sam answered.

"I've got some stuff to do." Ryan muttered, getting up slowly. Emily reached and squeezed his hand.

"Don't give up, she'll come around." Emily told him.

"I _can't_ give up," Ryan replied sadly. He nodded at me and left.

"So Claire said you have a big date planned," Sam said.

"Yeah," I responded, trying to shake off the dark feeling Ryan had left in his wake.

"Good, I'm glad to see you two back on track. Any new developments on that other situation?" Sam asked. Emily frowned at her husband.

The situation was that a vampire had been in the area again. In fact, it was the same vampire we had been chasing the day Claire had been attacked. We'd picked up his scent several times a couple of months ago. We had found that he had been to different locations around the reservation. We had almost caught him once, but since then he seemed to have disappeared.

"No, but I'm sure Nate would know before I would." I replied.

I heard some noise and turned around. Claire came down the stairs wearing jeans and a form fitting long sleeved shirt. She carried a white thick sweater.

"I wasn't sure what to wear," Claire remarked.

"You dressed perfectly." I smiled at her, holding out my hand to her. She walked over and grabbed it. I turned back to Sam and Emily, "See you later."

I walked Claire to my car. She paused when she saw the row boat attached to the back of my vehicle.

"We're going out in that?" Claire asked.

"I thought we could go fishing." I smiled at her, opening the car door for her.

Claire stopped dead and glared at me. She'd had the same stance since she was a kid. She flat out refused to eat anything that didn't come from a store. If someone went out and hunted something, she wouldn't touch it.

"You realize that I won't let you keep anything we catch, right?" Claire asked. She wouldn't get into the car.

"Yeah, I figured that."

"Furthermore, you know I won't bait my own hook either." Claire said, raising an eyebrow at me.

"I know that too…can we go now?" I asked, trying very hard not to laugh at the serious expression on her face.

Claire finally smirked, "Okay, if you're sure you want to go."

She got in the car and I shut the door behind her before walking around the front of the vehicle and getting in behind the wheel. I put the car in drive and we headed out the driveway. I was taking Claire to this little lake off of the reservation. It was popular in warmer weather for it's fishing, but I doubted many people would be out in the middle of February.

I turned on the radio as we drove. Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean" came on the radio. I started humming along with the familiar chorus, tapping my thumb along with the beat.

"Billie Jean is not my lover..." I started to sing in a quiet off key tone. "She's just a girl who…"

"…claims that I am the one," Claire chimed in.

"But the kid is not my son," we sang together. We looked at each other and started laughing. I hadn't seen Claire this relaxed in ages.

We finally arrived at the lake and I unloaded the row boat off its trailer. Claire helped me carry it over to the water's edge. I had her get into it before I pushed it all the way into the water. Once it was floating, I hopped in myself. I rowed us to the middle of the lake and threw a little anchor overboard. Just as I suspected, the lake was empty except for us.

I grabbed the two fishing poles I had brought with us and baited the pole that Claire was going to use before attaching a bobber to it. I watched Claire cast off before I turned my attention to my own fishing pole. I soon cast off and we sat in compatible silence.

"So why fishing?" Claire asked.

"I don't know…I always found the water calming, you know. I thought about spending the day at the beach, but we always go there. I figured we could do something different." I told her honestly.

"I'm glad you thought of this." Claire told me happily. "It's nice to get away from everything for awhile."

The bobber on Claire's line suddenly went under the water.

"Quil, I think I have something," Claire shouted excitedly, reeling her line in quickly.

A fish broke the surface before going under again. A few seconds later, Claire pulled her line up to reveal a large trout on the end. I looked at it with longing.

"Are you sure we can't keep it?" I asked. There was nothing I liked better to eat than fresh fish.

"Absolutely not," Claire said, watching as I unhooked the fish for her before throwing it back in the water. She smiled as it disappeared beneath the surface. "Be free, my fish."

I snorted and baited her hook again before turning my attention back to my line. I felt something tug on my line and quickly reeled it in. Pulling it up, I saw a large piece of seaweed attached to my hook.

"Wow Quil, you caught a whale there." Claire laughed.

I looked at her disgustingly. I was about to say something when I suddenly got an eerie feeling that we were being watched. I looked over to the far side of the lake. I thought I saw movement and stood up quickly.

The boat tipped sharply to the side, and I began to lose my balance. Claire reached over to steady me and we both ended up flipping out of the boat, landing in the water with a resounding splash. I pushed to the surface and saw Claire's head break through at the same time. She was laughing as she reached for the side of the boat. I looked across the lake but whoever or whatever had been watching us was gone.

I hopped back in the boat and reached down to pull Claire in as well. I pulled a little too hard and we went flying back, landing on the floor of the boat. Claire landed on top of me with her hands on my chest, our legs tangled together.

"Well, that was graceful," Claire smiled as she looked down at me.

"You okay?" I asked. She nodded.

"I think we scared the fish away." Claire giggled.

I smiled back, reaching up to push a wet strand of hair away from Claire's cheek. Her face lost amusement as she stared at me.

"Quil," Claire whispered moving so that her face was close to mine. "Would you kiss me?"

Claire and I hadn't kissed once since she had first been hospitalized six months ago. At the most, I had kissed her cheek or forehead. I had wanted her to be comfortable enough to want me again. Now here she was asking me to kiss her. I was more than willing to oblige.

I felt Claire's hands tighten nervously on my chest as I reached up to gently cup the back of her neck. I brought her face closer to mine. I waited for Claire to make the next move, though the need to feel her lips against mine after so long was enough to drive me insane. Claire leaned the rest of the way so that her lips finally met mine. It was a light kiss, our lips barely touching, but I felt her hands lose the death grip they had on my skin. I pulled back slightly.

"Are you okay?" I asked. Claire nodded.

"I've missed this…missed _you_ like this Quil," she whispered against my lips, before pressing her mouth more firmly against mine.

I groaned as our lips melted together. She shivered, but I wasn't sure if it was from reaction or the cold water on her skin. I reached around her back and pulled her in closer, wrapping my arms around her. I felt Claire's tongue dart along my lips, and I immediately opened my mouth to her so that our tongues could glide together.

In the distance, I heard a wolf howl. I ignored it, too lost in what I was feeling. When I heard a second howl, I jerked away from Claire. There was something wrong. I felt the shimmers in the air as my brothers phased. I looked over at Claire who was gazing back at me with uncertainty on her face. I heard a third howl and swore under my breath as Claire looked away from me to somewhere off in the distance.

"The wolves sound close."

I stared at her for a moment. I didn't want to leave her but I knew something was wrong from the persistence of the howls. I saw Claire shiver again.

"I need to get you back to Sam's…get you into some warm, dry clothes," I stated, lifting her gently off me before sitting up.

"Alright," Claire said with concern evident in her tone.

I lifted up the anchor and grabbed the oars. Both fishing poles had fallen overboard when we fell over. I didn't even see them anymore. Screw it!

I rowed back to the shore and jumped out, leaning over to help Claire out of the boat. I grabbed her hand and walked her quickly to the car. I ran back and threw the boat back on the trailer. Once I had everything secured, I got into the vehicle and we headed back to Sam's.

As soon as we pulled up to the house, I threw the car in park and walked Claire to the front door. "Claire, listen, I've got something I need to take care of. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Fine," Claire said not meeting my eyes.

Several new howls broke out in the air. Claire jumped and I swore. Claire turned to go into the house, but I grabbed her arm. I could see tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked. She shook her head.

"Claire?"

"Are…" Claire started then stopped. I could see her take a deep breath before continuing, "Are you disgusted by me?"

"Why would you think that?" I asked, so stunned that I forgot about the urgency to join my pack brothers.

She wouldn't look at me. I grabbed both of her cheeks in my hands and made her look at me.

"Talk to me Claire," I implored, looking down at her face. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears.

"I thought maybe…you remembered what happened to me…and you were disgusted because…that man had put his mouth on me…and…"

She didn't continue. The tears that she had been holding back spilled over. I wiped them away with my thumbs.

"Claire," I whispered. Something in my tone made her look at me then. When she did, I leaned in and gently brushed my lips against hers.

"Don't ever think that." I ordered. "I don't look at you and see him as some sick extension of you. I look at you and see only you. I'm not leaving you right now because I'm disgusted…there's absolutely no reason to be. I'm leaving because I really do need to take care of something. You know how I'm considered a bodyguard of the tribe?"

Claire nodded her head. I continued, "I'm leaving now because I need to take care of tribal business and for no other reason, understand?"

"How did you know you were needed?" Claire asked in a puzzled tone.

More howls broke out. Dammit! I stepped back and looked off in the distance. I saw a pair of eyes looking at me through the trees. Brady!

"Give me a minute!" I muttered softly. Brady made a quiet "yip" and disappeared.

"What?" Claire asked in confusion. Sighing, I looked back at her.

"Claire, the wolves are close, which usually means there's danger nearby. That's how I know. Do me a favor and stay indoors, okay?"

Claire nodded and I leaned in to give her one more brief kiss before I hopped in my car and headed to my house. As soon as I pulled up, I ran to the backyard and threw my clothes off and phased.

"What the hell is going on?" I demanded.

"We picked up the scent of that vampire…it's the same one we've been chasing." Nate told me. "We're hunting him now. We think he's somewhere near the reservation. Oh and Devlin phased so Ryan's staying behind with him."

"Paul's kid? He's only 12…" I replied

"Yeah," Nate responded despondently.

I could sense Devlin's panic and saw that Ryan was going over everything with him. I soon joined Seth, Brady, Nate, and Azra.

"Where's Collin?" I asked.

"He and Lindsey drove to Reno and eloped last night." Seth told me. Typical Collin, couldn't even wait to give Lindsey a big wedding.

As we ran, we picked up the leech's scent. It was very strong which meant he was close by. I thought about Claire being at Sam's house and felt some relief.

Until I realized where the scent was leading us. Straight to the lake that Claire and I had just been at. He had been watching us. That was what caused me to have that uneasy feeling. He had been facing the wind, so his scent had never blown in my direction.

He'd witnessed the scene between me and Claire. Bloodsuckers were known for having excellent swimming skills. If he was hungry, why hadn't he attacked us when we'd fallen in the water? What had he been waiting for? Why did he keep coming back here?

Questions kept racing through my head as we reached the spot the bloodsucker had been standing in. Following the trail from there, we came to the realization that while we had been headed to the lake, the leech had taken a different route straight back to La Push. He had been far enough away that we hadn't picked up his newer scent. Realizing this, we broke out into a run.

"Ryan, Devlin, be on the look out." Nate yelled as we ran. "Quil, this vampire started making himself known right after you killed that leech on New Years a couple years ago. Do you think the two leeches are connected somehow? If so, do you think this new vampire was able to figure out that it was you that killed the other bloodsucker?"

"It's possible." I replied.

"Then what _had_ he been waiting for?" Nate repeated my question.

_Claire._ Her face immediately popped in my head. If he had seen me with Claire and he wanted revenge then he might try to hurt me through Claire. Thank God she was at Sam's. Sam had only recently stopped phasing. If he needed to, he'd be able to still phase and protect his family.

I picked up the pace, practically leaving the rest of the pack behind. I wouldn't feel better again until I had my imprint in my arms. Where she belonged.

_A/N – I loved Michael Jackson when I was little kid. I had to give him a shout out. Some of you have guessed already what's next, so I'll give everyone else a big clue. The next chapter title is called "Barnaby's Return." _

_Please review!_


	32. Barnaby's Return

**Chapter 32 – Barnaby's Return**

Claire's POV

I let myself into the house after Quil dropped me off. I could hear arguing. It sounded like Gracie was fighting with her parents again. I could understand that she was a teenager and her hormones were all over the place, but she really had become miserable to be around lately. Thinking back to my teen goth days, I could only hope that this phase with Gracie lasted as long as mine had.

Of course, I had gone all goth because of my teenage heartache over Quil. I didn't know what was bugging Gracie. She wouldn't talk about it, but I was pretty sure it had something to do with Ryan. My aunt's words soon confirmed my train of thought.

"You're punishing Ryan for something he can't help," Emily stated.

"What does it matter anyway?" Gracie raged. "Don't I have a choice in who my friends are? Why do I have to be friends with Ryan…he's too old anyway."

I smiled at that. I had thought Quil was old at one point in my life. Now I couldn't imagine life without him.

I felt myself frown. I never really thought about it before, but how old was Ryan anyway? He was like Quil. He never seemed to age. Good genes or not, it was weird.

"You didn't seem to think he was too old six months ago." My Uncle Sam said with impatience in his voice.

I froze in the hallway. Six months ago was around the time I had gotten hurt. I could feel the demons trying to pull me back down to hell. The same hell I had lived in when I first woke up in the hospital. I pushed those dark thoughts away and instead shifted my focus to Quil.

When I had woken up from my coma, the first thing I was conscious of was Quil being in my room. And whenever I had felt miserable after the attack, Quil was always there. There were times when I had wanted to give up on life, but Quil had been by my side, fighting for me and protecting me like he always did.

"Six months ago, I didn't know what a freak Ryan was." Gracie yelled, interrupting my thoughts. I could hear tears in her voice.

"That's it! You _will_ speak to Ryan again." I heard my uncle's angry voice. I continued my walk down the hall.

Just as I walked into the living room, Gracie said, "Or what? You'll go all wolf on me?"

"Gracie!" Emily snapped as she saw me behind her daughter.

All three turned and looked at me. I stepped into the room.

"Go all wolf? Is that a new expression teens are saying nowadays?" I tried to joke to lighten the mood.

Gracie opened her mouth to say something, gave her father a brief glance, and shut her mouth again.

"I'm going to my room," she muttered before stomping up the stairs, leaving an awkward silence behind her. I heard several wolves call out.

"Speaking of _going all wolf…_" I said as I listened to the howling. "I never knew wolves got so close to humans until I started living in La Push."

I looked over at my aunt and uncle and was confused by the strange expression that passed between them. The howling disappeared. Not wanting to intrude on my aunt and uncle's private time, I went upstairs and took a warm shower to wash the lake water off me. And to relive that kiss.

I loved Quil so much…even more so after the attack. He never pushed me. He just waited patiently for me to get my life together again.

I was startled to realize how much I wanted Quil to kiss me. For a time, I didn't think I'd ever want to be touched by another human again. Kissing was such a simple act really, but for awhile I was terrified at the thought of such close intimacy. To realize today that I could still want Quil's mouth against mine was a huge milestone for me.

I had been terrified when he first brought his lips close to mine, but Quil had waited for me to kiss him. He let me be in control. When I kissed him, I realized I had nothing to fear. And though I had felt some unease during the kiss, I knew that I could also still feel desire. I could feel it for Quil…only Quil. It had restored some of the confidence I had lost in myself as a woman.

I finished taking my shower and went back to my room. Once I got there though, I found I was too restless to do anything but pace. Something Quil had said was bothering me.

He said if the wolves were nearby, he knew there was danger. How did he know that? If there were wolves nearby, wouldn't most people's natural instincts be to stay indoors? And what could be so dangerous that the wolves would act like that? Whenever there seemed to be a problem, or "tribal business," the wolves always seemed to get close to the reservation. Almost like they were guarding it.

There were so many things that didn't make sense to me anymore. So many things that I had just accepted and never questioned when I was younger. I had grown up thinking that things at La Push were normal.

Ever since the attack, I had focused all my attention on Quil. Concentrating on Quil helped me stop the familiar nightmares that would try to overtake me time and time again. Because of my new preoccupation, I realized how unnatural things really were on the rez.

For example, when my mind would drift to unpleasant thoughts, I'd force myself to think of Quil's face. His beautiful, _ageless_ face. I had known him for sixteen years now and I had never seen one wrinkle or grey hair. He was going to be 34 in a few months and yet he still looked like he was in his twenties.

And what was with his body temperature? When I had fallen in the lake this afternoon, I had been shocked by how cold the water was. And yet as soon as I was wrapped in his arms, I had felt instantly warm. Why? Why was he so hot? Sam and Nate were the same way. So was my cousin Seth, and I remembered Leah had hot skin like that when I was younger, though the last few times I had seen her, her skin had felt normal.

More importantly, _why_ was it that every time the wolves howled everyone would go running. This wasn't the first time I had witnessed the type of behavior Quil had exhibited today. I noticed it several times before through the years of living at La Push. And it wasn't just Quil who reacted this way.

There was a whole gang of my uncle's friends, his bodyguards, who went running whenever they heard a wolf call out. I had always thought the guys went running, because they were trying to keep the animals _off _the reservation. But today I found out the wolves were really some kind of alert system. It just didn't make sense.

The questions racing around my head became too much. I decided to head over to Quil's. I didn't hear the wolves anymore which meant the danger had passed. I looked at the clock next to my bed and realized that it had been only 20 minutes since Quil had dropped me off. I decided I'd go over and wait for Quil at his house.

I walked down the stairs and saw my aunt and uncle standing in the backyard. I went to tell them I was leaving, but it looked like they were arguing about something.

"Sam, you promised." I heard my Aunt Emily pleaded.

"I know, but the pack--"

"Doesn't need you anymore." Emily said, covering my uncle's mouth with her hand. "Let Nate handle this. It's not fair to him or to me if you phase right now."

Phase? Pack? What did that mean?

"I'm sorry Em," Uncle Sam said before resting his forehead against hers. "It's harder than I thought it would be."

"I know," Aunt Emily said, wrapping her arms around his neck and bringing him down for a kiss.

My uncle lifted my aunt so that she was against his body. I did _not _need to see this. I turned and walked out the front door without telling them I was going to Quil's. I made my way to his house and saw his car parked out front. He was home already? Good, he could answer some of my questions then. I knocked on the front door and let myself in.

"Quil?" I called out.

There was no response. I walked through the kitchen and made my way down the hall going by his closed bedroom door. The phone started to ring, but I didn't feel comfortable answering it. Quil didn't even know I was here. I continued on through the living room until I reached the backyard. I looked at the ground and froze.

I went over and picked up Quil's clothes which were lying all over the grass. They were the same ones he had been wearing earlier. I slowly turned and went back into the house and went to his bedroom door.

I hated the thoughts that were racing through my head. Maybe there was no great mystery when it came to Quil. Maybe he was just a lying, cheating piece of shit! I knocked loudly on the bedroom door and barged in.

The relief I felt when I noticed the bedroom was empty was instantaneous. Feeling guilty, I went over to his bed and sat down. I grabbed Quil's pillow and buried my face in it, breathing in his woodsy scent. I loved the way he smelled. It had been a source of comfort to me when I was a kid. Now whenever I smelled his unique scent, I was filled with longing and desire.

Sighing, I put Quil's pillow back on the bed and made my way to the backyard. I went to the punching bag Quil had set up for me and began to methodically punch it with my good hand.

I was just about to hit it again when something hard hit me. I went flying back, but my feet never touched the ground. Someone had their arm around me and was dragging me into the woods. I tried screaming, but the wind had been knocked out of me. I tried to get my bearings but we were moving too fast…way too fast. I started kicking out but my legs only connected with tree branches and bushes.

Who had grabbed me? Was it the man who'd attacked me? No, Quil said the man wouldn't hurt me again. I knew the man had severe brain damage and was hooked up to a feeding tube. So that meant it was someone else.

Oh hell no was this going to happen to me again! I'd die first! I reached down to dig my nails into the person's arm. I froze as soon as my hands touched the attacker's bare skin. It was like touching marble. Ice cold marble. I had never felt anything like it before. I started to squirm.

"By all means…try to run…it'll make this so much more fun." A man's voice said calmly. We were still going too fast. I began to feel dizzy. I had to close my eyes to avoid throwing up as the world went rushing by.

Finally we were in some type of clearing. I was thrown from the man and landed hard on my back. I sprung up and turned to face my attacker. I gasped as I looked at him.

He had brown hair down to his shoulders. His skin was unnaturally pale. He was beautiful, but there was something about him that made me want to shudder in fear. Maybe it was his eyes. They scared me the most. They were red…blood red. I let out a small scream and started walking backwards until my back was against a tree.

"Well my dear, you have not been an easy one to get." The man told me with a laugh. "I've been waiting quite a while for you to be by yourself, but that big oaf who cares so much about you never lets you out of his sight, does he?"

I looked in the direction that we just came from.

"Oh they won't find you. Or at least if they do, it will be too late. You see, I've been planning this for far too long. They won't pick up my new scent for quite a while. It's a gift I have, you see. I can spread out my scent so they'll be following the wrong trail. I never used my gift before against them so they won't be expecting it. While we're in this direction, they'll be going in another one. Even if the dumb mutts can figure out the right trail, we are miles away now, so as I said, it will be too late to save you."

I turned my attention back to the man. I knew that he was speaking English, but he might as well have been speaking Greek for all I understood.

"I watched you to on the boat, you know," the man continued. "You're mate looked so happy. It will positively kill him when he finds you dead. I thought about turning you, but I quite frankly don't want to deal with a newborn."

Was this man on drugs? That's all I could think of to explain his strength and strange features. Plus, nothing he said was making sense. Mate? Newborn? The one thing I understood for sure was that he wanted to kill me. Oddly enough, I wasn't afraid. In fact I felt an unnatural calmness.

"Ah well…time to get this done, yes?" The man remarked.

"Just tell me why?" I asked as a way to distract him.

"Why? Because your mate killed my brother. I knew where my brother was going the night he was killed. I went to the art museum and I could still smell the burnt scent of one of my kind. When we burn, it leaves a very strong sweet smell, you know. And I also picked up the disgusting scent of wolf. But I lost the wolf's trail, so I spent the next several months traveling. I went out east for a little bit to see if I could pick up the scent there, but alas, my search came up empty. And then I headed in this direction, and low and behold, I came across this little area of the world."

I was distracted momentarily from what the man was saying. I had a sudden flash in my mind of Quil disappearing from the New Year's Eve party at the art museum during our first date. When he came back, it had looked like he'd been in a fight. But Quil wouldn't murder anyone, would he?

"I studied all of you...trying to find your weakest point," the man spoke again. "Which brings us to you, my dear. You live at the leader's home. I was able to figure out that your mate was the one who attacked my brother. By killing you, I strike at them where it will hurt them the most."

The man kept pacing back and forth. He moved so quickly that I could hardly keep my eyes on him.

"You know it's odd…" The man suddenly said. "I never really cared for my brother, but revenge is revenge after all. They took away my family, I'm taking away theirs. Your death, my dear, will not be in vain, I promise you. Your passing will bring them great sorrow and my brother's death will be avenged."

I looked at him and lifted my chin. I didn't feel numbness or terror as I should.

"Now…where to begin?" The man said, eyeing different parts of my body.

That did it. I would not be a victim ever again. I tried to remember some basic techniques from my self-defense class. I remembered something about hitting your attacker in the eyes with the tips of your fingers. I was about to strike when the sun suddenly broke through the clouds.

I was instantly distracted as the sun briefly bathed the man in light. His skin started to sparkle as though he were covered in jewels. All thoughts of self-defense went out of my head. This thing was not human. As he approached me, his lips curled back over his teeth. He stopped suddenly and looked over his shoulder, making a strange hissing noise.

I heard a loud rumbling noise in the distance. It sounded like a large group of pounding feet were headed our way. Whatever was making the noise was approaching unnaturally fast. I turned my head slightly and saw a large pack of…wolves…coming towards me.

"No!" The man screamed in frustration. I turned my head back in time to see him crouch and lunge at me.

He never made it. Because Barnaby…the same Barnaby from my childhood…had cut the man off before he could touch me. I stood mesmerized as I watched the wolf in front of me. A part of me had thought he was a figment of my imagination. I hadn't realized that he was truly real until this moment.

I watched in complete shock as Barnaby bit into the man's neck. Suddenly the man was attacked by several different wolves. I saw a hand get torn off and quickly covered my eyes to block out the image. It didn't block out the sound though. Loud metallic ripping sounds came from the area where I knew they were slaughtering the man…creature…whatever he was.

It soon got quiet. I could suddenly smell a very strong sweet scent in the air. The fumes were making me extremely lightheaded. I heard voices but I couldn't comprehend them. I tried to remove my trembling hands from my face but found I didn't have the energy. My world was suddenly spinning and I began to feel violently sick. I felt warm hands encircle my wrists.

"Claire?"

Quil? Where did he come from?

It was the last coherent thought I had before darkness consumed me.

_A/N – As I said before, I've been planning this sequence for a long time. Let me know what you think. Also, reviews really dropped on the previous chapter so I have to ask, are people still interested in reading this story? _


	33. Loud Noises

_A/N – Just a quick reminder…this story is rated "M."_

**Chapter 33 – Loud Noises **

Quil's POV

I caught Claire just as she fainted. It had begun to rain. I heard thunder in the distance.

"How's Claire?" Nate asked, walking quickly over to me to check on his cousin.

"She fainted, but otherwise she's okay." I responded. "Listen, I'm going to take her back to my house. She obviously saw what happened. I need to talk to her about everything when she comes to."

"Alright," Nate agreed, looking at me for a moment before chuckling. "Good luck. Cause if Claire's like Gracie, you're gonna need it."

"Thanks," I said sarcastically before turning and leaving the area.

I headed back to my house as quickly as I could, silently cursing myself as I went. If I had told Claire the truth earlier, she would never have left the house, exposing herself to danger. If I had only made her aware of what was really going on.

I didn't think I'd ever forget the fear I felt when Ryan told me that Claire wasn't at Sam's house anymore. And then I suddenly had a terrible feeling…it was the same feeling I had when Claire had been attacked in her apartment. And I knew in that moment that the vampire had gotten to her.

As soon as I realized that Claire was in danger, I followed the pull to my imprint. The others wolves had been thrown off by the leech's scent which was all over the place, but I knew exactly where Claire was. As we ran, we began to pick up Claire's scent on tree leaves and bushes that we passed.

We had almost gotten there too late though. The bloodsucker had been so close to killing her. If it hadn't been for a last minute kick of adrenaline on my part, he would have succeeded in ending Claire's life.

Going through the backyard, I opened the slider and entered the living room. I carried Claire into my bedroom and gently placed her on the bed. I didn't want to let her go, but I didn't want her to wake up and find me looming over her buck naked either. I turned and grabbed some boxers from my top dresser drawer. The phone started ringing in the kitchen. I quickly pulled on my boxers and went to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Quil! I've been trying to get a hold of you," Jake's frantic voice came on the line. "Alice had a vision that a vampire had gotten Claire and then Claire's future went blank. I figured you must have gotten her, but I wanted to make sure. I've been trying to get a hold of you and Sam but haven't been able to get through to either one of you."

"Yeah, we got to her just in time." I replied.

"I know that Alice has been trying to track this vamp since you told us about him, but she had problems seeing him clearly." Jake replied sorrowfully.

"I think he had some kind of gift with evasiveness," I told him. "We always seemed to miss him when he came near the rez before. And then today, his scent was all over the place so we couldn't track him. Thankfully, we're having a storm right now, so it'll wash away his stench. I think he probably could have escaped us this afternoon if he hadn't been so determined to kill Claire."

"I'm just grateful that she's okay," Jake said in relief.

We talked for a few more minutes, before I told him I had to get back to Claire. After hanging up the phone, I headed towards the bathroom to get a cold washcloth for her head. While I was wetting it down, the lights flickered for a moment then went out.

Swearing under my breath, I put the washcloth on the bathroom counter and made my way to the kitchen where I stored extra candles. Grabbing them, I went into my bedroom and lit a couple on my dresser. I didn't need the light as I could see in the darkness clearly, but I didn't want Claire to freak out when she woke up. Going back to the bathroom, I grabbed the washcloth and went back to the bed and sat down next to Claire, placing the damp cloth against her head.

She was pale, but I could hear her heart beating strongly. I moved some of her long hair out from under her shoulders and placed it on the pillow above her, hoping that would make her more comfortable. There was a sudden crack of thunder. Claire opened her eyes and abruptly sat up screaming. I knew that loud noises scared her since the attack. I quickly wrapped my arms around her.

"I'm here Claire. You don't have to be afraid. I'm here."

"Quil…what happened? I saw a man…his skin looked like jewels sparkling in the sunlight…and then B-Barnaby was there and he bit the man's neck…and there was this horrible noise--"

"Shh…it's okay Claire," I tried to comfort her.

"Quil, I don't understand…I don't understand what I saw." Claire said, burying her face into my neck.

I gently pulled back and looked into her eyes. My eyes were drawn to Claire's trembling mouth. Before I knew what I was doing, I leaned down and took her quivering lips in mine. It was meant to be something quick. I only wanted to comfort and calm her. And to be honest, I needed to feel the connection of our mouths after being so close to losing her again. But somewhere in the middle of our kiss, something changed.

I moved my hand so that it cupped the back of her head, holding her firmly to me. Claire froze for a second before relaxing and leaning into me. I slid my tongue out to run across the line of her closed lips. She parted them with a sigh. My tongue immediately sought entrance into her sweet mouth and her tongue met mine. I felt my heart pound as I heard Claire's breathing speed up.

Claire wrapped her arms around my neck and leaned back. I followed her as she fell against the pillow. I pulled my lips from her mouth and moved them down to kiss along her neck. She threw her head back, giving me better access to the area. I could feel her breasts press into my naked chest.

My trembling hands had a mind of their own. One hand went to her shirt and covered her breast. I heard Claire moan slightly as I cupped her.

Worried that I was pushing her before she was ready, I asked, "Claire, are you okay with this?"

I started to remove my hand. Claire took control of the situation, grabbing my hand and putting it back against her body. That was all the encouragement I needed. I began to move my thumb back and forth across the pointed peak that was now pushing up against her shirt. Her breast pressed against my hand as she arched her back slightly. I bent my head and suckled her, my teeth grazing against the point revealed through her shirt.

"Quil," Claire moaned.

I felt her tug on the back of my hair and I slowly lifted my head. Oh God, what had I done? Had I gone too far? When I looked into Claire's eyes, my heart sped up even faster. Her eyes were lit with the same fiery desire that I felt myself.

Claire took my hand and put it on the hem of her shirt. With shaking hands, I pulled gently up and took her shirt off. Her bra was wet where I had had my mouth on her. I placed my thumb and index finger over the peak, squeezing gently. Claire's back came off the bed. I took the opportunity to reach around and unclasp her bra. I slowly drew the straps down. I felt like I was opening a present and I wanted to savor it. I had waited 17 years for this moment. I wasn't about to rush anything.

Her bra was soon off and I sat back to stare at what was revealed. Granted I had seen Claire's breasts before, but I had never taken the time to admire them. Her breasts weren't too big or too small. They fit her body perfectly. My eyes slowly traveled down, taking in her narrow waist and her small belly. I gently pushed her back against the pillows and kissed her belly button before working my way up to her breasts again. Claire stiffened. I knew why. The last lips on her naked body like this had tortured her, hurt her.

I stopped what I was doing and pulled back so that I could look at her. "Do you remember the Christmas I gave you that ring?"

Claire nodded.

"Do you remember how it felt to have my mouth on you?"

"Yes," Claire whispered in fear and desire.

"I won't hurt you Claire. If you'll let me, I'll show you again how good it was…how good it was meant to be. Will you let me?"

Claire nodded again and said "Yes Quil."

Two simple words, and with them I felt Claire's body relax under mine. I bent my head and began to worship each breast in turn. I ran my tongue over her left nipple, encircling it, before pulling on it gently with my lips. My hand mimicked my mouth as it worked on her other breast.

Claire was making interesting noises at the back of her throat that were driving me crazy. I switched my attention to her other breast, before making my way back up to her mouth. I licked along her lips again. They opened immediately. Claire's tongue meshed with mine. She tasted so incredible. I couldn't get enough of her. My wandering hand made its way to the top of her jeans and slowly slid underneath. Claire grabbed my hand and I froze. She was staring at me with wide eyes, her body going stiff again. I could feel her start to tremble.

"If you want me to stop, I will," I told her, all the while my body screamed at me to continue. I felt like I was going to explode at any minute.

Claire looked at me for a second and then grabbed the back of my head and pulled me down for a swift kiss. Moving her mouth to my ear, she whispered, "don't stop" and let go of the hand that she had been holding on to.

"If you're uncomfortable with anything, tell me." I told her. She nodded slowly.

I quickly unbuttoned her pants and pulled down the zipper before letting my hand continue its journey. It came to a rest over her panty covered mound. I kept it there until I felt sure that Claire was comfortable with me touching her like this. I could feel her heat calling to me temptingly.

Carefully, I let my fingers run along the middle of her desire, pressing in slightly. Claire's shaking hands grasped my shoulders, her nails digging into my skin. I could feel her womanly bud through the cloth. I ran my thumbnail back and forth over the area. Claire cried out.

I continued the movement over and over again. Claire's hips began to move and match the movement of my fingers. I kept it up until Claire arched her back and the hands that had been holding onto my shoulders fell limply to her sides. She stared at the ceiling for a moment in shock, before she turned her head. I saw tears trickle down her face.

"Are you okay?" I asked, worried. I pulled my hand away and moved so that my arms were on both sides of her.

"I…it's just that I wanted you to be the first person to touch me like that…and I--"

"I was," I leaned down and kissed her softly. "I was the first Claire."

The tears dried as she understood what I was saying. I was the first to bring her pleasure there. What had happened before to her wasn't making love. I was the first to truly make love to her like that.

Her face turned to awe and satisfaction. I chuckled softly once I saw that, all the while my body protested painfully. I slowly lowered my body so that it was gently resting against hers. I knew that she felt my hardness through our clothes from the way her eyes flamed. I rocked against her several times and her hips matched my every movement.

"Claire, are you sure you want to do this?" I asked, while my body silently begged her to say yes.

Claire nodded and said the word I longed to hear. "Yes."

I slid her jeans down her legs along with her panties. I reached up and touched her gently, exploring the area without the barrier of clothing for the first time. She was more than ready for me. I reached for my own pants and slid them off. I heard Claire gasp and I froze.

A common issue for all the wolves was our size. Every part of our body was overly proportioned. Jared had once told me that Kim had been so terrified of his size the first time they had done it, that she almost refused to sleep with him. I didn't want Claire to be frightened, but I didn't know how much longer I could last either.

I felt her soft fingers reach out to touch me and I tried to stay very still, but once I felt her trembling hands go along the length of me, I had to pull them away. I took one of her hands and placed it on the pillow where I interlaced my fingers with hers. I moved so I was between her legs. Claire's other hand grabbed my arm.

"Claire, are you protected?"

"Yes, I went on birth control a couple of years ago…to help reg-regulate my p-periods."

Her words stumbled as I placed myself at her entrance. Her welcoming warmth beckoned me. I entered as gently as I could. I wanted to shout as I felt myself become enveloped by her. I pushed a little further. She was so incredibly warm and very tight. I paused when she gasped and froze.

"Don't…don't stiffen up, it'll hurt worse," I told her. She met my eyes and then looked away as an embarrassed flush swept across her face.

"It hurts," Claire whispered.

I paused again. I didn't want to ruin this for her no matter how much my body protested. I didn't think I could live with myself if I hurt her after everything she had already been through. I leaned down so that my chest was pressed against hers. I kissed the sensitive area on her neck at the same time my hand went back to playing with the point of her breast. I felt Claire relax again. She wrapped her legs around my hips, and I proceeded to push further in. I pressed forward until I reached her barrier.

"I'm so sorry, honey, this is going to hurt," I kissed her again. She nodded in understanding. I withdrew slightly only to push with more force. I felt her virginal wall give way. Her hand tightened on mine. Her cry of pain was muffled against my lips as I continued to kiss her. I pulled back and looked at her face. She wouldn't look at me as tears poured down her face.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered again. She started to squirm away from me, away from the pain. "No wait, don't move--"

But it was too late. Her slight movement was enough to send me over the edge. I felt something snap inside me. It had been way too long for me and I couldn't control my body anymore. My willpower was completely gone. I repeatedly told her how sorry I was as I thrust over and over again, powerless to stop as I reached completion.

I collapsed against Claire. I could hear her sobbing softly. I pulled slightly away from her, though we were still joined. I looked down at her beautiful face. Her eyes were squeezed shut as tears seeped out of them. The sight broke my heart.

"I'm sorry Claire," I repeated uselessly. "It's just…it's been so long. I couldn't control myself. You felt so incredible…I'm…I'm sorry."

Claire stopped crying at that and slowly turned her head and looked at me. "How long?"

"Seventeen years," I told her truthfully and saw her eyes widen in shock as she understood.

"Why?" Claire asked. I knew what she was asking.

"I knew from the moment we met that you were going to be the most important person in my life. I waited for you. I didn't want anyone else in the meantime."

"You wanted me when I was little?" Claire said with a disturbed note in her voice. Shit, now she thought I was some sick fuck, lusting after her as a child.

"No! I'm…I'm explaining this wrong. I've loved you since you were two, but my feelings weren't romantic or sexual then. I didn't fall in love with you until years later."

Claire's eyes became wet with tears again. "That's the first time you've ever said you loved me."

"I thought you knew…" I responded, bending down to lick a tear off her face.

"Men!" She huffed before cupping my cheek with her trembling hand. "When did you know?"

"I think I started falling in love with you the night you ran away. I was so relieved when I found you that all I wanted to do was kiss you and hold you close. Then I saw you kissing that guy when you were 16 and I wanted to kill him. But it wasn't until I dropped you off at your dorm that first time that I realized I was in love with you."

She shifted uncomfortably and against my will, my body started to respond. I saw her wince, but she reached up and drew my head towards hers.

Kissing my lips, she whispered, "I love you too Quil…I've always loved you."

I felt my body react to her words and knew she felt it too by the way her eyes widened. I placed my forehead against hers and breathed in her sweet scent. Balancing on one arm, I lifted off her body slightly so that I could slide my hand between us. I began to touch her most sensitive area. She stiffened at first as I touched her, but as I continued to tease her with my fingers, her hips started to subconsciously move on their own. I continued to pleasure her that way as I started matching her movements with my own. This time, when I reached heaven, Claire was right there with me.

As carefully as I could, I slowly withdrew from her, kissing her lips over and over as she winced. I got off the bed and picked Claire up, carrying her into the bathroom. We went into the shower and cleaned ourselves up. I continued to kiss her the entire time.

After we were done, we went back to the bedroom. Claire laid down on the bed. I went over and opened the window so that the cold night air infiltrated the room. Claire was shivering by the time I got back to the bed, and I quickly pulled her naked body against my own and drew the sheet over us. The thunder and lightning continued throughout the sky. Claire didn't even seem to notice. She had lost her fear of loud noises.

Claire laid half across me with an arm wrapped over my chest and one leg across my hip. She buried her face into my neck as I felt her drift off to sleep. I moved my head slightly to kiss her forehead.

Tomorrow. I'd tell her everything tomorrow.

_A/N – LOL, writing this scene from a guy's perspective was a little weird. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed the lemony goodness…the "truth" is next…finally. ;)_

_Please Review!_


	34. Truth Revealed

_A/N – I made a couple of errors in the last two chapters that I have since fixed. But just to let you know of the corrections, I originally posted in "Barnaby's Return" that Quil was going on 35, he's actually going on 34, and it was 17 years since he last had sex, not 18._

**Chapter 34 – Truth Revealed**

Quil's POV

I woke to the sound of sleet beating against the roof of my house. I was more relaxed and content than I had been in a long time. It suddenly dawned on me why as memories from my night with Claire rushed through my head.

As I became aware of my senses, I could feel Claire's bottom pressing against my groin area. I had my arm wrapped around her with my forehead pressed against the back of her head.

A part of me wanted to repeat the pleasure we'd experienced together last night, but I stopped myself from fulfilling that longing. I knew Claire would be too sore today. And I didn't want to hurt her again.

I was still angry at my loss of control when we first joined together. I had acted like a teenage boy having sex for the first time. If it hadn't been for the fact that it was Claire in my arms, I probably would have managed to control myself.

But after waiting so long for her, I had been unable to stop myself. We were already connected emotionally and mentally. To finally reach the last barrier and connect physically had been too much for me. And instead of Claire being afraid by my frantic display of need, she had kissed me and told me she loved me. _She loved me! _

And now I knew I wouldn't be able to live the rest of my life without hearing her tell me again that she loved me. Those words were as necessary to me as air. As long as I had that, I could survive anything, including another 17 years of abstinence. Though I really, _really_, hoped that didn't happen.

Because aside from my lapse of control, the night had been perfect. Claire's responses to my touch had been everything I could have ever hoped for. Instead of shying away and being terrified, she had taken control of the situation several times during our intimacy.

My stomach growled loudly and I chuckled quietly. Now that one appetite had been finally appeased, I needed to feed my stomach. I buried my face in Claire's hair one more time, breathing in her sweet floral scent, before carefully extracting myself from the bed.

Claire turned over and immediately reached for my pillow in her sleep, pressing her face into it. I bent down and lightly kissed her spine between her shoulder blades. I pulled the blankets up that Claire had kicked off during the night when my body heat became too much for her and covered her with them.

I'd tried to move away from her several times during the night so that she wouldn't get too hot. But every time I went to give her some space, her grip on my arm would tighten. Even while she slept, she'd refused to let go of me.

I looked down at her still form and pushed back a lock of hair off of her face.

"Do you have any idea how much I love you?" I whispered, just taking in the sight of her as she continued to sleep, completely oblivious to the world around her.

My stomach grumbled again. I went over to my dresser and pulled on fresh boxers before making my way out of the bedroom to head towards the kitchen. I went over to the fridge and pulled out some fresh vegetables and some eggs. An omelette sounded really good right now. I began cutting up the vegetables, lost in thought.

How was I going to tell her about the whole shape-shifter thing? I didn't want to scare her off after everything she had already been through, but she needed to know the truth. Aside from the fact that she put herself in danger yesterday because she hadn't known that a vampire was in the area, Claire had also witnessed too much. She had been face to face with that bloodsucker. She had also seen the pack in action as we destroyed him.

More importantly though…with her words of love last night, I had known beyond a shadow of a doubt that I needed to fess up about imprinting. Hearing her say "I love you" had given me an inner peace I hadn't even realized I was missing. It was what I had been waiting for all these years. What I needed to hear before I unloaded "the truth" on her. By admitting her love for me, Claire's choice had been made. She had chosen me body and soul…and now I felt free to tell her everything.

"Good morning," Claire's shy voice said, interrupting my thoughts.

I looked up and saw her standing in the kitchen entrance looking unsure of herself. She was fully dressed in the clothes she had been wearing yesterday.

"Morning," I smiled at her as I finished cutting up the vegetables. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Fine," Claire answered, her face turning bright red. She didn't meet my eyes. I saw her glance down at my hands and heard her gasp. "Quil…you're bleeding."

I looked down and saw that I had cut myself while chopping up the vegetables. Dammit to hell, I was bleeding all over my breakfast!

"Shit!" I muttered as I made my way over to the sink.

I had been so distracted by what I had to tell Claire and by her sudden appearance that it hadn't even registered that I'd cut myself.

"That looks pretty bad," Claire said as she wrapped a towel around my finger. "We should probably take you to the hospital for stitches."

"Claire, I'm fine," I insisted.

"Quil, you're not fine…you need to see a doctor."

"No…I'm okay, real--"

I didn't get a chance to finish because Claire had pulled away the towel on my finger. There was nothing but a faint red line. I heard Claire suck in a breath.

"But how is that possible?" Claire questioned softly.

She turned my hand over in her palm, inspecting my finger from both sides. Claire looked at me in shock and slowly took a step back away from me, letting go of my hand.

"What the hell is this?" Claire demanded. "What happened yesterday? I saw a man whose skin sparkled under the sun like a freaking disco ball, and he had skin as cold and hard as marble. He kept muttering something about how my mate killed his brother on New Year's Eve…the same New Year's that we had our first date where you disappeared and came back looking like you'd been in a fight. And then the guy threatened to kill me, but before he could do anything, he was attacked by a group of abnormally large wolves."

Claire took another step back before continuing, "And you were there yesterday…I know you were because I remember hearing your voice. I don't understand any of this. Your finger, which should have needed stitches, has magically healed itself. How? Does it have to do with the fact that your body feels like a furnace all the time and you don't seem to age? And don't you dare tell me its good genes!"

I sighed. We might as well get comfortable. I took her hand and pulled her into the living room. It said something about her state of mind that she let me without protest. I sat her down on the couch. Claire looked at me for a moment before looking away.

Something on the wall caught her attention. Claire jumped up from the couch and went over to it. I felt myself freeze. It was the drawing she had given me years ago for Christmas. The one she had drawn of Barnaby.

"I always wondered if he was truly real. I mean…I knew there was a wolf in Makah, but I didn't know if it was the same Barnaby that was in my imagination." Claire murmured. "But I saw him yesterday. He looked exactly like this."

Claire looked at me with a confused smile on her face.

"You know, he always reminded me of you when I was younger. Both larger than life. Both my great protectors," Claire said, laughing absently. "I used to imagine him outside of my house, hiding somewhere in the woods watching over me. I always felt safe pretending he was there. Just like I know I'm safe when you're around. I--"

Claire stopped talking and I could see her physically stiffen. I watched a multitude of emotions flash across her face. It was as though the final piece of a puzzle fell into place and she was putting everything together. She looked back at the drawing and then slowly turned to look at me.

"Is it possible?" Claire whispered incredulously. She didn't say anything else, just stared at me.

I nodded encouragingly. "Go ahead and ask me."

She shook her head, "But it's crazy."

"Ask me anyway," I told her.

"Are…are you Barnaby?"

"Yes," I confirmed.

"But…how?"

"It's something in our tribe's blood. It started centuries ago…" I went on to describe the legends to her. It took some time and Claire would nod here and there, but otherwise she was quiet. "…and so, whenever vampires are around, the magic in our blood kicks in and we become what you saw yesterday."

"So there are vampires in the area? That's what that man was?"

"Yes."

Claire paled at that. She walked over and sat down next to me again. I grabbed her hand and felt her fingers tighten on mine.

"Are you sure all of this is real? You know…that, maybe you aren't a little stressed out and perhaps imagining things?"

Great, so she listened to my every word… she just thought I was crazy.

"Claire, think about what you saw yesterday. You said the man sparkled under the sun. That's why vampires avoid sunlight, because it gives them away. And you felt his ice cold skin when he grabbed you. You know he wasn't human. And then there's my own skin. Having a constant temperature of 108.9 degrees isn't exactly normal. Plus, you've mentioned the fact that I don't physically age. It's because I'm a shape-shifter. I'm immortal until I stop phasing."

"Phase…" Claire repeated the word as though she were testing it out. It seemed to have triggered some kind of memory for her. "But will you stop phasing someday?"

"Yes, when I retire from the pack. Others have already retired and have begun the aging process, Paul and Jared to name a couple. Even Sam recently stopped phasing so he could grow old with Emily."

"Uncle Sam?"

"He led our pack for a long time, but once Nate phased, Sam decided to retire."

"Nate too?" Claire asked, completely stunned.

"Yeah…besides me, there's Seth, Brady, Ryan, Azra, and Paul's kid, Devlin in the pack. Nate's our Alpha…our leader now. Collin's in the pack too, but he'll probably stop phasing now that he and Lindsey are married."

"Wait…Lindsey and Collin got married?"

"Yeah, they got married in Reno a couple of days ago."

"And does Lindsey…"

"Yeah, she knows everything."

"Wow…this is all so unreal." Claire shook her head in disbelief. She didn't say anything for a moment before she looked at me and said, "Show me."

"What?"

"I want to see you change into a wolf."

"You want to see me phase?" I asked somewhat shocked.

She looked at me and nodded. "Yes."

"You won't freak out on me, will you? You won't leave?"

"I'm already freaking out on you. I'm just hiding it really well," Claire replied jokingly, before adding in a serious tone, "Will you do this for me?"

I nodded and walked over to the slider and stepped outside. I knew that Claire was following me.

"I'm going to take off my shorts, otherwise I'll ruin them." I warned.

Claire's lips twitched, but she nodded her head. So glad she thought this was funny! Since she didn't seem to fear my naked body, I faced her and slowly pulled down my boxers. I wanted to see her face while I phased. Claire's eyes widened at what was revealed in the full daylight.

"No wonder…" Claire muttered quietly.

"No wonder what?"

Claire looked startled. "How did you hear that?"

"We have excellent hearing."

"Oh…" Claire suddenly turned red. "I was just thinking…no wonder it hurt so bad last night…you're…umm…big there, aren't you?"

I couldn't help it. I started to laugh as Claire's face turned an even brighter shade of red.

"All part of being a wolf." I told her.

I could feel my body begin to react as Claire continued to look at me with unconcealed desire on her face. Her eyes widened as she took in my body's changes. I had to look away and shift my thoughts from Claire, otherwise I wouldn't be able to phase. I thought of the vampire almost killing her yesterday and instantly felt the telling heat spread through my spine. My skin ripped away from me as my chocolate brown fur revealed itself.

I stayed perfectly still after I completed phasing. Claire was frozen in place with her back plastered against the wall of the house. I sat down and waited to see what she did. Very slowly, Claire took a step towards me then another. She kept walking until she was right in front of me. She looked down at me.

"Barnaby," she finally whispered.

She reached out and touched the fur on my head tentatively. She moved her hands so that they were on both sides of my face. She continued to run her hands over my coat in a completely fascinated manner. Finally she got down on her knees and wrapped her arms around me, burying her face in my neck.

Pulling back, she looked at me and smiled, "I can still see you though Quil. You have your eyes."

She got up to her feet and gave me a quick kiss on top of my head. Leaning close to my ear she said, "thank you Quil" and stepped away.

I took that as a sign that she was okay with me in this form and phased back, quickly pulling on my boxers again. My heart sung. Claire wasn't afraid of me as a wolf. We walked back in the living room and sat down on the couch. Claire was strangely silent.

"So…no more questions?" I finally asked.

Claire shook her head slowly as she looked at me. "Not right now."

"You're taking this much better than I thought you would."

"I'm just…kind of in shock right now." Claire told me, giving me a slight smile. She reached out to hold my hand before she continued to speak.

"But…I don't know…I think I can accept all of this. I mean, I always knew something funny was going on in La Push. All of this," Claire said, gesturing to me with her other hand, "just confirms that it wasn't my imagination all these years."

"I'm glad you feel that way, cause that's not all I have to tell you."

Claire took a deep breath and looked at me with a wary smile on her face. "Okay."

"I imprinted on you when you were two."

Claire face changed to confusion, "I'm sorry…I don't know what you mean by that."

"It's our way…the wolves' way…of finding our mates. Everything we feel before we imprint…our connections to other people even…it all gets severed and our imprints become the sole reason we exist. I took one look at you and nothing else mattered. I knew we were supposed to end up like this someday."

Claire looked at me with a stunned expression on her face "You couldn't have known."

"I did though. You became my whole world as soon as I laid eyes on you. I went from being your big brother to your best friend to your boyfriend." I explained before laughing. "It wasn't always easy, but I watched over you and waited for you to grow up."

"But what about other people? I mean…what if you fell in love with someone else in the meantime. Or what if I fell in love with someone else?"

"I never even saw another woman after I imprinted on you. But I had to have faith that you would choose me in the end. I mean, we were made for each other."

"What do you mean you never saw another woman?"

"When a wolf imprints, women's faces become blurry to us so we can't see them. The only time we can see women is if they're in pain and then it's our duty to protect them."

I smiled at Claire and went to hug her close. Instead, she jumped up from the couch and walked away from me. She stopped a few feet away with her back to me.

"Claire?"

She turned and looked at me. "Why didn't you tell me any of this? I mean, you're telling me that you imprinted on me when I was two…that we've been destined to be together almost all my life because of some connection…and you never thought to bring this up?"

I was confused. She could accept that I could shape-shift into a wolf, but she was upset because I told her I imprinted on her?

"I wanted to protect you…to give you a chance to have a life…to make sure you had choices--"

"But that's the thing, isn't it?" Claire interrupted. "It sounds like I had choices, but you didn't. You never had a choice in anything…you always had to be with me. You _had_ to love me. You weren't given any other option."

I saw the tears in her eyes and I ran to her, grabbing her by the shoulders. I was feeling panic rise inside me as I stared down at her. Something had gone very wrong here. I could tell that Claire was shutting me out.

"It's not like that. I wasn't always _in_ love with you. But I fell in love because I realized you're the one person I want to spend the rest of my life with. You're my other half…you have to feel that! You have to know it's true."

Claire wouldn't look at me. "Would you please take your hands off of me?"

I immediately let go.

"Is it safe for me to walk back to my house?"

Claire was rejecting me. I felt my heart shatter. I told her in a dead voice, "Yeah…but I can take you--"

"No!" Claire responded fiercely. "I don't want you to."

She looked at me and I saw the seriousness in her face as she said, "I don't want this. Please just leave me alone."

I watched my imprint turn and walk out the door. I couldn't even go after her and plead my case. She had told me to leave her alone and she meant it. I couldn't go against her wishes.

I felt my heart die inside my chest. I couldn't breathe. All I could feel was pain.

After everything we had been through…I had lost Claire anyway.

_A/N – Next chapter will be in Claire's POV. If you read my other story "First Imprint (Sam's Story)" it's up for an Indie Twific Award. It needs votes though, so if you could give it your vote, I'd appreciate it! It's up for best canon, best characterization non Bella/Edward, best non Edward/Bella storyline, and best secondary storyline. You have until Sunday night at midnight to get your votes in._

_The address is:_

http: // www. theindietwificawards. com /vote. aspx (for some reason this site won't let you put links in your stories...I put spaces between the words which you'll need to take out so you can get to the Twific Awards site. Thanks again!)

_**As always, please don't forget to review. Thanks again!**_


	35. Emily's Advice

**Chapter 35 – Emily's Advice**

Claire's POV

I left Quil's house in a daze and ran through the rain back to my aunt and uncle's home. I opened the front door quietly and snuck in the house. I didn't want to see any of them. Every single person in La Push I had grown up loving had lied to me.

I felt hurt, but I was also pissed. I was pissed at myself. I knew that there was something different with Quil and my uncle. The lack of aging…the hot skin. Why didn't I question it more? The signs were always right there in front of me. Why did I just accept everything? I had grown up thinking Quil and Uncle Sam were normal, that that was just the way they were. If I had only questioned it more, then I would have realized that there was an unnatural bond between me and Quil. I could have spared him years ago!

I pushed that painful thought aside as I walked swiftly into the house and headed towards the hallway table where my car keys were sitting.

"Claire, is that you?" My Uncle Sam called out. I froze as he came into the hallway. He took one look at my face and stopped walking.

"So Quil told you everything?" Sam asked. I nodded.

I saw Nate walk out behind him with a look of caution on his face. I eyed them both warily. A part of me still couldn't believe it. My uncle and my cousin, who I'd known almost all my life, could turn into gigantic wolves. I felt a swell of hysteria begin to rise inside of me. How could any of this be real?

"Are you okay?" My uncle asked with concern in his voice.

"I need to leave…think things through…" I finally spoke.

The expression on both of their faces upon hearing my words tore at my heart. They both looked like I had kicked them in their stomachs. It wasn't compared to how Quil had looked though.

Oh god…Quil! I started to feel claustrophobic. I grabbed my keys off the table and ran back out the door before they could say anything else.

I ran to my car, the same vehicle Quil had given me for my 16th birthday, and hopped in. I started it and threw the car into drive, flying down the driveway. As I left the reservation boundaries, I heard a wolf cry out painfully. I knew it was Quil watching me leave.

It just made me more determined to get away. I hit the gas even harder and continued to drive. I drove through Forks and kept on going. I drove for an hour until I reached Port Angeles.

I found a parking spot and started to walk around. I tried to block Quil from my mind, but even in this town, memories flooded me. I passed the roller skating rink where Quil had chaperoned my 5th grade roller skating party. The memory of my teacher flirting with Quil still annoyed me.

I forced myself to continue walking, even though all I wanted to do was turn around and go back to La Push. Back to Quil. I kept going though until I found myself standing in front of a jewelry store staring blankly at their display of rings through the window. I looked up and realized it was the same store Quil had taken me to get my ears pierced when I was 13. I laughed a little as I remembered how petrified he had been during the whole procedure. He was always trying to protect me from getting hurt. Sadness began to overwhelm me.

I knew in that moment I was about to lose it. I ran back to my car and sat in it, locking the door once I was settled. I placed my head against the steering wheel and started to cry. I cried so hard that my body shook. I cried for so many things…for being attacked months ago, for being almost killed yesterday, and most of all, for Quil.

I wasn't upset that Quil was a shape-shifter. I could even handle him not telling me about that fact all my life. What I couldn't wrap my mind around was the whole "imprinting" thing. I thought Quil loved me for me. Then I find out that he never had a choice but to love me. He had admitted that he hadn't been with anyone since he imprinted. It was because he was forced to wait until I grew up. He'd been with me every step of my life because he was duty-bound to.

And, oh god, last night! I was terrified when we first started being intimate, but I hadn't wanted to stop because I'd known I was safe with Quil. I knew he wouldn't hurt me.

Even when he lost control, I'd felt a strange sense of pride knowing that I had done that to him. I should have feared Quil in that moment. That would have been natural after everything I'd been through. But to know that Quil had needed me so much that he'd been powerless to stop his body's reaction had meant the world to me.

Quil had always seemed so infallible. Nothing seemed to shake him. I'd only seen him lose his temper once in all my life, and that was when I kissed another guy in front of him when I was 16. As it turned out, Quil admitted last night that his reaction to that event had been based out of jealousy.

So when Quil had lost control like he did, it hadn't disgusted me or made me want to run to my therapy group. Maybe if it had been anyone else, it would have caused me to lose some ground I had gained in my recovery process. But Quil and his overwhelming desire for me had healed me. Physically it had hurt, but emotionally he had mended a part of me that I hadn't even realized was still suffering from the assault. I had felt like a woman in that moment. Not some damaged being, but a desirable woman who was loved.

And when he began to make love to me the second time, I had felt the most amazing pleasure. It had been so incredible to me. I thought it had been just as important to Quil.

But now I realized my first time wasn't special to Quil at all. It was just an obligation. He had to sleep with me because it was me or no one else. He probably thought I was as disgusting as I knew I was.

I was so embarrassed and horrified and felt truly sick with myself. The emotions I had thought I'd overcome of feeling dirty and damaged began to resurface. I was surprised Quil could even stomach kissing me let alone sleep with me. That thought brought on a fresh wave of tears.

The sun was getting low in the sky when I finally stopped crying. I wiped at my face and started the car. As I headed back to La Push, I made some decisions. I was going to pack up my things and move back to Makah for awhile. And then I'd try to figure out what I'd do next with my life. But first, I had to survive the one thing I didn't want to do.

I was going to let Quil go. He deserved his freedom. I wasn't going to be an obligation any longer. He didn't need to put his whole life on hold because of me and my issues anymore. He was free to date whoever he wanted. To love someone who didn't have so much baggage. The thought of Quil dating anyone else sent a sharp jab of pain to my stomach.

I reached my aunt and uncle's house and made my way upstairs, thankful that I didn't run into anyone. I threw my purse and keys on my dresser and made my way to my closet. I pulled out my suitcase and began to pack. Minutes later I heard a knock on the door.

"Claire, it's Emily, can I come in?"

I stopped packing and opened the door. My aunt took a step into the room, and I returned to what I was doing. Emily sighed as she stood watching me pack. She turned and shut the door gently behind her.

"You know, between you and my daughter, I'm going to get premature grey hair." Emily joked.

I didn't stop from my task.

"So I take it Quil told you about shape-shifting and imprinting."

"Yes," I said, freezing in the middle of packing.

"And now you're leaving?"

"I'm letting Quil go…he deserves his freedom."

"Claire, sit down and talk to me for a minute," my aunt requested, walking over to the bed and placing my suitcase on the floor. I paused for a few seconds before joining her where she was now sitting on the bed.

"I have a good idea why Gracie is taking the idea of the pack so hard, but let's hear what you have to say," Aunt Emily remarked.

"Gracie knows?" I asked, stunned.

"She knows about the wolf pack. She doesn't know about imprinting. She found out months ago that her father, brother, and best friend were all shape-shifters. They all phased in front of her without warning."

"Is that why she's been acting so weird?" I wondered.

"I think Gracie feels guilty and she doesn't know how to handle it. She won't talk about what happened with anyone."

"Why would Gracie feel guilty?"

"Well from what Ryan told me, Gracie and Nate had been fighting the day Nate phased for the first time. It wasn't anything major, just an argument between siblings. When wolves first phase very little can set them off. Nate lost his temper and started to shake badly. Ryan, recognizing the signs, told Nate to get outside. As soon as Nate did, he phased. Unfortunately, Gracie had been running after her brother to make sure he was okay and saw him explode into a wolf right in front of her. Can you imagine seeing the person you were just arguing with turn into a gigantic wolf right before your eyes? And then Nate saw Sam and went after him, because they're both Alphas…"

"Quil mentioned something about Uncle Sam and Nate being the leaders of the pack," I mentioned.

"Every pack needs an Alpha. Nate inherited Sam's Alpha gene and is now the pack's leader. At the time though, Sam was still Alpha. Two Alphas can't be near each other without wanting to attack. Anyway, Sam ended up having to phase while Gracie was still around so he could notify the pack what had happened. Nate felt the presence of an Alpha in front of him and tried to kill him. By that time, Sam had already changed back to human form so Ryan had to phase in front of Gracie to protect Sam."

My aunt paused tiredly before saying, "I think Gracie somehow thinks that their phasing is her fault, because she argued with Nate that day…though I keep telling her she's not to blame. I think she could have handle it if it was just her brother and father, but to find out that her best friend…the person she thought she knew better than herself…was holding such secrets, it hurt her deeply. Especially as this is the kind of thing she would have gone to Ryan about. Now she doesn't feel she can talk to anyone…especially not Ryan who's a part of this world. Hopefully though, she'll come around. She'll have to talk about it someday. Of course, Ryan still has to tell her he imprinted on her, but Gracie's already handling everything so poorly--"

"Wait, Ryan imprinted on Gracie?" I asked, stunned.

"Oh yes, when she was three," Emily said calmly.

"And you said she doesn't know? Don't you think she should?"

"The pack has rules. And one of those rules is that the wolf has to be the one to tell the imprint the truth. Ryan will tell her when he thinks she's ready."

"But doesn't it bother you that he imprinted on her so young?"

My aunt shook her head. "I know that as long as Ryan is around, Gracie will be cherished and protected. It's the same as I know you'll always be safe with Quil nearby. What more could I ask for?"

I wasn't ready to talk about Quil yet, so I asked instead, "How many wolves have imprinted?"

"You know what's funny? Imprinting was supposed to be something rare. But let's see, there's Jacob and Ness, Paul and Rachel, Ryan and Gracie, Kim and Jared, Collin and Lindsey…"

"Collin imprinted on Lindsey? Does she know?"

"Yes, he told her when she was a senior in high school."

"And how did she react?" I asked, more than a little irritated that even my best friend had known and hadn't bothered to tell me.

"Lindsey asked Collin to go to the prom with her."

I couldn't help but laugh as my annoyance evaporated slightly, "Yeah, that sounds like Lindsey…so who else?"

"Well…there's Embry…"

"Embry imprinted? But from what Quil told me Embry's single."

"He is. Embry's imprint is married. Embry couldn't handle the pain imprinting caused him so he moved out of the area to start his life over somewhere else.

"But that's horrible," I replied, feeling sick for Embry.

"When a wolf imprints on someone, he is whatever the imprint needs. If all Embry was meant to be was a friend to Rebecca, then that's all they were meant to be."

"Rebecca? Does she live on the reservation?"

"No, Rebecca is Jacob Black's sister. She lives in Hawaii."

"Imprinting sounds horrible."

"Imprinting isn't easy…no relationship is. But trust me, there's also a lot of good that comes from it too."

I didn't say anything for a moment as I soaked in everything my aunt told me.

"What about you and Uncle Sam?" I asked suddenly.

My aunt's scarred face seemed to glow as she thought of her husband. "Yes, Sam imprinted on me."

I analyzed this as I stared at the three long scars that ran down the right side of Emily's body.

"Aunt Em?" I asked cautiously. "My dad said you were once attacked by a bear. Was that true?"

"No…Sam did this to me," my aunt replied simply.

"But…why…how could you stay with him when he did this?"

"From the first moment I saw Sam, I was fascinated by him. But he was dating our cousin Leah at the time. Leah and I were like sisters then. Even though we lived far away from each other we had kept in contact through phone calls and email. I had even met Sam once at a family reunion before he became a wolf. He didn't even notice me," my aunt said with a laugh. "Two years later, my parents sent me to La Push to work in Uncle Harry and Aunt Sue's supply store. I was going to stay at their house and work at the store during the summer while I decided if I wanted to go to college or not. By that time, Sam had been a wolf for a few months. He came over to the Clearwaters' to celebrate Leah's high school graduation party, saw me, and promptly imprinted on me."

"While he was dating Leah?" I questioned in a slightly disgusted voice. Jeez…first Embry's heartbreak then Leah's. This was not reassuring me that I wanted anything to do with imprinting.

"Yes, they were still dating, although he broke up with her later that night. A few days after the breakup, Leah went to stay with family in California for a month to get away from La Push and Sam. Sam started visiting the store daily while I was on my shift."

Emily smiled slightly, lost in her memories. "He bought some of the most useless stuff…things like candle wax…just so I would talk to him."

My aunt paused and I asked, "So what happened next?"

"Well, I tried very hard to resist Sam, because although I was interested in him, I didn't want anything to do with him because of Leah. It wasn't easy though. It's very hard to resist the level of devotion and love an imprinted wolf will lavish on the person they've imprinted on. Sam would come to the store and flirt with me and make me laugh, and I found myself falling in love with him. So one day shortly before Leah was supposed to come home, Sam asked me to go for a walk with him to discuss his relationship problems. I agreed because quite frankly I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could."

My aunt touched the scars on her cheek subconsciously before continuing, "While we were walking, Sam told me he was in love with me and that we were meant to be together. I refused to listen to him because of my loyalty to Leah. In fact, I told him I didn't want him in my life and I never would. Now as I said before, Sam hadn't been a wolf that long. He didn't have the restraint he has today. He was holding on to me when he lost control and phased."

I didn't know how I looked, but my aunt instantly jumped to her husband's defense and said, "He didn't mean to hurt me, it was an accident. When he saw what he had done, he'd thought about killing himself."

I gasped and my aunt reached out to squeeze my hand. I couldn't imagine my big strong uncle like that. My heart broke for both of them even though I knew they had a happy ending.

"I was in the hospital for two weeks after I'd been hurt. Sam only came to see me once because he couldn't bear to see what he'd done to me. He also thought I wouldn't want him there. I fell into a depression because Leah or no Leah, I needed Sam with me. Once I got out of the hospital, Uncle Harry told me how much Sam needed me and took me to Sam's house."

My aunt looked pained from whatever memory was playing in her mind.

"When I got there, I found your uncle sitting on the floor of his bedroom. He was so thin he looked almost skeletal. He was a complete mess. But we talked and he told me about the legends and imprinting. And you know what? Instead of feeling guilty about my feelings towards Sam, I felt relief. I was allowed to love him like I wanted to, because we were made for each other. And because I was able to fully accept Sam's love, we both found peace and happiness beyond our wildest dreams."

"But what about Leah?" I asked.

"Leah was hurt of course. But once she phased and saw the connection that existed between me and Sam, she was able to accept it even though it was painful to her still. Once she was able to stop phasing, she went away to school and met Dylan. She never imprinted on him, but she fell deeply in love with him. As you know, they married and have three kids together. Leah even told me once a few years ago that she was happy with how things worked out, because her feelings for Dylan far outweighed what she had ever felt for Sam. Even if Sam had never met me and had stayed with Leah, they wouldn't have been happy in the end, because they weren't meant to be. Once Leah recognized that, she found the closure she needed to move on with her life."

I shook my head, saying, "I can't picture Uncle Sam suicidal."

"When an imprint is hurt, the wolf feels it as though it were their own pain. Knowing that he was the reason I suffered, almost sent Sam over the edge. When you were attacked, I know that Quil felt it. He'd been in wolf form hunting a vampire at the time. He had felt so much pain that he wasn't even able to move for a long time. The rest of the pack felt his pain too which was how I was able to get to you so fast. Sam let me know you'd been hurt, and I flew to California as soon as I could. If you had died that night, I think Quil would have too…he's that connected to your mind."

Tears spilled out over my eyes. My aunt reached up and wiped a tear away.

Sighing she asked, "Which brings us back to you. Do you have a problem with Quil being a shape-shifter?"

"No," I told my aunt. "What I have a problem with is the whole idea of imprinting! Leah had her heart broken, Embry's become a recluse, and all my life I was always so miserable unless I was here with Quil. Now I find out it's because of some freaky connection we have. And what about Quil? At least Uncle Sam knew that you were the one he wanted to be with. He dated Leah. Quil told me he's never even seen another woman's face since he imprinted on me. All these years he was forced to love me."

"First of all, if you were miserable being away from Quil, maybe it was because your subconscious was trying to tell your head what your heart already knew. That just as Quil's world has always revolved around you, your world has always revolved around him. You know…you could have had a Quil-free life. You didn't have to be in love with him. Imprints can choose to make their wolves whatever they want. Imprinting doesn't force love, it gives you options. If you wanted Quil to be your best friend all your life, then that's what he would have been," Emily explained, before reaching up to pat my cheek, "But you did fall in love with him. I can tell because you look at him the same way I look at your uncle. You've looked at him like that since you were a young teenager."

"But Quil never had a choice," I said stubbornly.

"Maybe Quil's life took a turn he wasn't expecting the day he met you, but I know for a fact he's never regretted it. Imprinting allowed him to find his soul mate. It saved him a lot wasteful years of dating the wrong person. Some people go their whole lives without finding the person they're supposed to be with. Quil knew from the moment he laid eyes on you that you were meant to be together. And he has cherished and protected and loved you every minute since that day."

My aunt looked pointedly at my suitcase on the floor. "Let's say you follow through with your plan and set Quil free as you call it. What would you hope to accomplish? Could you handle not seeing Quil?"

I thought about it and felt searing pain at the idea of never seeing Quil again. I didn't say anything, but my expression was enough. My aunt smiled as she continued to speak.

"Trust me, the last thing that Quil wants is to be free from you. And please don't think he didn't have choices when it comes to you. He had a choice to tell you the truth when you were little. He could have told you anytime when you were a teen. Instead he let you choose your own way. He loved you so much that he continuously put your wants before his own needs. He hid from you the agony he felt when you dated Sully for so long. He loved you enough to let you go and experience college, even though he wanted you to stay in La Push with him."

My aunt hesitated before saying, "And even though your apprenticeship ended horribly, you got to work on a Disney film, and now someday your children's children will look at the credits and see your name listed. Quil wanted you to have it all. But I know that every time you walked out the front door, he secretly hoped that one day you'd turn to him and say "I choose you," instead of life's next opportunity. He wanted that even before he realized he was in love with you."

"Why didn't he just tell me?" I whispered, though I was beginning to understand how much Quil had sacrificed for me.

"Because he wanted you to fall in love with him, not because of what you knew, but because of how you felt. He wanted to give you every opportunity imaginable so that if you did eventually choose him, it was because he was what you truly wanted. You don't know how lucky you are Claire. You found your soul mate when you were two. And I've watched Quil's feelings for you go from brotherly to best friend to being deeply in love. Quil loves you more than life itself. Don't throw it all away because of some silly notion of setting Quil free, or because you're hurt that he didn't tell you earlier. Everything Quil has ever done has been for you."

I understood what my aunt was saying. I had wanted to set Quil free for the same reason he had never told me the truth. Because we loved each other so much we wanted to give each other everything, including a choice. But Quil never wanted a choice…he just wanted me.

And Quil had kept his secret from me because he'd been doing what he always did my entire life. He'd been protecting me, loving me, and giving me everything I ever wanted…every dream possible. He wanted me to have the world. He never guessed that all I ever wanted was him.

"I really messed up," I finally said. "I told Quil I wanted him to leave me alone. I really hurt him. I don't think he'll forgive me."

My aunt smiled at that.

"I can guarantee he'll forgive you," Emily responded dryly. "Haven't you realized yet that Quil would do anything for you?"

I shook my head sadly, "He deserves better than me."

"Oh honey, I know you think that you're damaged in some way because of the attack, but you're not. You're worthy of being loved…in fact, you deserve it. Quil loves you with all his heart, scars and all. Just remember that no one is perfect, not even Quil. But you two are perfect for each other and that's all that matters."

I nodded before asking, "What should I do?"

"Well, I can see you're pretty messed up by this, which means Quil is too. There were quite a few times when I wanted to be angry with Sam. But I realized that whenever I tried to punish Sam, I punished myself more. It was actually painful to me whenever I hurt him. So you want my advice? Go get Quil, love."

I smiled slowly and hugged my aunt close. "Thank you Aunt Em."

"You're welcome," she responded with a light kiss on my cheek.

"Do you think he's still at home?"

"Remember when you ran away and Quil found you so easily?" My aunt asked. I nodded. "It was because of that connection you have to each other. Follow your heart and you'll find him."

I turned my head and something caught my eye. It was the ruby heart-shaped ring Quil had given me. It had been sitting on the nightstand next to my bed since Quil had returned it to me. I hadn't worn it since the attack. The man who'd hurt me had taken it off my finger that night, but Quil had gotten it back somehow. I hadn't been able to wear it since, because it always seemed tainted somehow.

I realized though I wasn't afraid to wear it anymore. I could see past the attack now and see the ring for what it was. A symbol of Quil's love for me. I might always have the scars from that night, but as long as I had Quil's heart, I could get past anything. I reached for the ring and slid it on my finger.

I turned and hugged my aunt one more time, before grabbing my purse and car keys. I flew down the stairs and ran out the front door. I drove straight to Quil's and knocked on the door before letting myself in.

"Quil?" I called out. I ran through the house but it was empty.

_Follow your heart and you'll find him,_ my aunt said.

I stopped moving and closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath. A smile crept across my face as I realized I knew exactly where he was. I ran back outside and hopped in my car.

I could feel a tugging inside my body as I drove. So this was what it was like to fully accept the imprint magic? I laughed softly as I allowed the pull to take me to my wolf.

_A/N –Let me know what you thought of Claire's POV! Gah…if I hit the 1000 marks for reviews, I'm going to do a freaking backflip…umm...well maybe I can still manage a cartwheel._


	36. Pretty Rocks

_A/N - Woot! I hit the 1000 mark for reviews! Thank you again so much to everyone who has commented on this story so far. It has meant so much to me, and I really appreciate the support you've given me so far! I was going to do a cartwheel to express my excitement, but last time I did one, I pulled my leg muscle, lol! But thank you, thank you, thank you!_

**Chapter 36 – Pretty Rocks**

Quil's POV

I stared at the turbulent waves beating against the shore. I had come to the beach for one reason and one reason only. Once I got here though, I realized I couldn't go through with it.

The pain I was in was crippling. I collapsed to the sand, my willpower finally giving out after spending what little energy I had left to walk to the beach. How would I be able to move on from this? Claire didn't want me in her life. What was the point of living now? I didn't know how I could survive.

I looked around the area and almost doubled up as more pain hit me. Now I understood why Embry had left the area. The memories of Claire in La Push would haunt me forever.

Even at this beach, I was consumed by images of Claire. This was the place I had taken her to after she had almost drowned when she was three. I had wanted to help her get over her fear of the ocean. She ended up splashing me with buckets of water and demanding that I pick pretty rocks for her. This is where she told me about her first kiss. Where we'd had our discussion on sex when she was almost 12, and I'd been forced to confess I had slept with someone else before I had imprinted.

Not that I had told her about imprinting or what it even was then. I should have told her. Maybe she would be by my side right now if I had. After the "sex" talk, our relationship changed. It was soon after our discussion that Claire started to act differently towards me. It wasn't even a couple of years later that she had even begun to practice her flirting skills on me.

And it was on this beach where I had felt desire for Claire for the first time. It was in the exact spot I was sitting in now that I had rubbed sun block on her incredible skin all those summers ago. It had been in that moment I realized how much I wanted her. How my feelings were changing from friends to something more, even though it would be a couple more years before I realized I was in love with her.

But in the end it didn't matter anyway. Claire had rejected me. I'd probably never get to see her again. I wondered if she even came back to La Push. I had watched her leave, but I hadn't bothered to look to see if she'd come back. What was the point? I couldn't be with her anyway. I couldn't even go near her because she told me not to. Oh god…how was I going to survive this?

Although it was cloudy, I knew by the darkening sky that the sun had just set. It had also started to rain, which was just fine by me. It matched my miserable mood perfectly. I drew my legs up towards my chest and rested my elbows on them, clasping my hands together in front of me.

It was strange. Even though I was in incredible pain, I could still feel the pull towards Claire. She didn't want me in her life. She had chosen to sever our connection. You would think that I'd get a break, or feel some sense of release. Instead the pull seemed to get stronger.

More than anything, I wanted to phase right now and go running. I even felt like I was going to phase at any minute but for some reason couldn't. I could feel the telling heat all over my body, especially along my spine. My skin felt like it was being stabbed by sharp knives. It was painful, just like the first time I'd phased.

And yet, I couldn't change into my wolf form. I had phased right after Claire had left me this afternoon. I'd secretly watched from a distance to make sure she got back to Sam's okay. And I watched her leave the reservation, but when she left, I'd changed back into human form. Now I just wanted to phase back to my wolf self and take off. But I wasn't able to. Something was preventing me from leaving. It was like the wolf was stuck inside of me and no matter how angry or tortured I felt, I couldn't phase.

So now I was stuck on the fucking beach in the middle of a goddamn rain storm, and I didn't even have the energy to go home. My body was stinging painfully, my head felt like it was going to explode, and my heart felt dead inside my chest. And all I could do was sit there. So was this how it was going to be for the rest of my existence? A worthless lump of nothing wasting away, lost in my memories?

Worst of all was the overwhelming longing that I still felt for Claire. Would it ever end? I wanted to see her so much, to hear her voice again so badly that the grief I felt finally made me snap. My mind began to play tricks on me and I welcomed it. I could actually pick up her scent in the air. In fact, her floral fragrance kept getting stronger, and I could feel the pull I felt towards her tighten around me.

"Quil."

Great. Now I had lost it to the point where I could even hear her voice. Or…maybe I died? Maybe the pain had been so severe that it actually killed me. God knows I wanted to be dead after Claire had left me.

"Quil." The angel called out again.

But it was the terror in her voice that finally made me snap out of my stupor. I turned my head slowly and looked over. Claire was standing a few feet from me. Her hair clung wetly to her shoulders. She was wearing the same clothes she'd had on earlier in the day. They were much too thin for the cold weather we were having now. She started to shiver slightly as a cold gust of wind came off of the water.

"Claire?" I asked in a doubting tone, because I was still pretty sure that she was a figment of my imagination.

"I knew you'd be here. Aunt Em told me to follow my heart. I went to your house first, but you weren't there. And I just knew…" Claire stopped and looked around before looking back at me. "This is our place."

I continued to stare at her. I couldn't speak even if I wanted to.

"Quil, I'm--" Claire started to say but stopped.

I could see her visibly swallow. She walked towards me until she was right next to me. I could feel the heat of her body and smell the scent of her skin. This was real. She was actually here.

"Quil, I'm so sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it. I was being stupid and I don't expect you to forgive me but--"

I didn't let her finish. I didn't need to hear anymore. All that mattered was that she was here with me now. She came back to me! I moved so that I could bury my head against her stomach. I wrapped my arms tightly around her back. She in turn moved her arms so that they cradled the back of my head.

"Don't ever do that to me again," I begged against her stomach. "Don't ever leave me again."

"Never." Claire promised. "I love you Quil."

I felt my body shudder as the pain I was in suddenly evaporated from my body. I pulled away from her only to grab both of her hands, kissing each one of them in turn. My thumb brushed against the heart-shaped ruby ring that she was wearing. I felt an amazing sense of relief to see it back where it belonged.

"Do you love me enough though?" I questioned, still staring at the ring.

"What do you mean?" Claire asked. I hated hearing the self-doubt in her voice.

I let go of one of her hands and reached into my pocket for the reason I came to the beach in the first place. I had meant to throw it in the water as I didn't think Claire would ever wear it. I had gotten it months ago while she was still in the hospital. I had gone to the jewelry shop in Port Angeles to get Claire's ruby ring cleaned, when I saw it for the first time. I had known that Claire was meant to wear it someday and I'd bought it on the spot. When I went to throw it in the ocean, I found I couldn't let it go. Because then I would've had to finally let Claire go, and I couldn't do that. I'd never be able to do that.

"Claire, I've loved you for longer than I even knew. I don't ever want to lose you again. And since I'm already down on my knees, I think it's the best time to ask you something I've wanted to ask you for a long time now. Will you marry me…please?"

I held out my gift to her. Even in the darkening light of day, I knew Claire saw what it was. A silver banned engagement ring with a round diamond in the center and two smaller diamonds on each side. I looked at Claire's face. I could tell that there were tears mixed in with the rain pouring down her cheeks.

"So...uh…what do you say?" I asked nervously when she didn't respond.

"Quil…" Claire whispered, a shaky smile appearing on her face. "I've wanted to marry you since I was nine-years-old. In fact, as I recall, I even proposed to you at Jacob Black's wedding."

"So is that a yes?" I asked, even though I could feel an answering smile on my face.

"Yes…" Claire laughed. "That's a definite YES!"

She threw her arms around my neck and fell to the ground, pulling me over her. I raised her ring finger on her left hand and slide the ring on it. I kissed the ring before letting her hand go. Claire reached up and wrapped her arms around my neck. I followed her unspoken command and pressed my lips against hers.

I put all my emotions into that kiss. The fear I'd felt, the pain, the love, and the relief. I didn't think I'd be able to stop kissing her. I wasn't sure how long we laid there until I felt Claire shiver from the cold, even with my body heat surrounding her. I reluctantly broke away.

"We need to get you out of the rain," I told her. I couldn't resist giving her one more swift kiss before I got to my feet, pulling her up with me.

We ran hand and hand back to her car. Claire let me drive back to my place. As soon as we got there, I had Claire get into the shower while I grabbed one of my shirts for her to wear. In the meantime, I took her clothes and threw them in the washing machine. I also made her some hot chocolate.

I went into the living room where I waited for Claire. She soon came out with wearing my t-shirt. It showed off her long legs and I had to look away to distract myself. Claire sat on the couch next to me. I handed her the warm drink before wrapping my arm around her shoulder to hold her close to me. I watched as she sipped her hot chocolate.

"So what made you change your mind?" I asked as curiosity got the better of me.

Claire sighed and reached across me to place her mug on table next to the couch. She picked up my hand and held it in hers using her other hand to draw distracting circles on my skin.

"I went to Port Angeles today and started walking around and all I could think of was you. I went back to my car and cried for hours."

I winced as I thought of her pain. I squeezed her hand gently.

"I finally made a decision to go back to Makah and leave you in peace. I thought you were forced to love me." Claire said, reaching up to cover my mouth with her hand when I went to interrupt. I kissed her palm and she smiled and removed her hand. "I had all of these grand notions of letting you go. I even went back to Uncle Sam's and started to pack my things."

I stiffened at that. Claire must have sensed my tension too, because she stopped talking and reached up to plant a kiss on my jaw before she continued to speak.

"Aunt Emily came to my room and sat me down and talked to me. She explained to me more about imprinting, and she told me some of the things she and my uncle had gone through together. They're the most perfect couple I know…so incredibly happy just being together…and it made me think. She told me how Uncle Sam had been suicidal when he scarred her and how much pain you'd been in when I was attacked. She also explained why you never told me about imprinting. How you wanted to give me the world, even though the only thing you ever wanted was for me to choose you."

Claire smiled at me then. I cupped her jaw and gently brushed my lips against hers.

"Emily sees a lot more than I realized." I told her.

Claire moved her head so that it could rest against my shoulder.

"I'm sorry for how I acted earlier today." Claire continued. "When you told me about imprinting all I could think was how you were obligated to love me…how you must have forced yourself to make love to me last night."

I snorted at that. I couldn't help myself. Claire looked at me with hurt eyes.

"I'm sorry," I apologized, bringing her hand to my mouth to kiss it. "I didn't mean to laugh. It's just that you have no idea how long I've wanted to sleep with you."

"How long?" Claire asked, a small smile appearing on her lips.

"It's funny…I was just thinking about this earlier on the beach. Do you remember that summer when you were taking driving lessons? We had gone to the beach one day and you kept asking me to rub sun block all over you…"

"My feeble attempt to seduce you," Claire laughed.

"Well it worked." I told her. "To put it bluntly, I had to stop touching you because I had a raging hard-on. I had to run into the water to hide it before you saw anything. That was the first time I'd ever wanted to make love to you."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Claire wondered.

"Because you were just shy of your 16th birthday, and I wasn't about to commit a felony by giving into what I wanted. Besides, you were way too young to have that kind of relationship with me. Then you ran into Sully and I had to spend the next year and a half wondering if you were giving him what I wanted so badly myself. So trust me when I say making love to you was not an obligation. It was something I've wanted for a very long time now."

"Even after I was attacked?" Claire asked.

"Claire, the attack only reemphasized what I already knew about you. That you are the bravest woman I've ever known. I love you unconditionally. You're my whole world. Never doubt that." I implored, before I brought her close to me so that I could kiss along her jaw. I backed away so that I could look into her eyes. "Even if I never imprinted on you, we would have still ended up together. Imprinting just helped me skip the process of having to search for you. We were always meant for each other. Can you believe that now?"

"Yes," Claire nodded, moaning as I started to suck lightly on her neck. "Quil…wait, there's something I have to say."

I moved back as she pushed me gently away. She cupped both sides of my face with her hands.

"You know…when that vampire attacked me? I wasn't afraid. I think I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that I'd be safe. That you'd find me and protect me. I didn't even think for a minute that you wouldn't rescue me. If I'm brave it's because I have you. You've given me so much in my life." Claire told me before saying the words I had been waiting to hear since I imprinted. "As much as you've given me though, all I really ever wanted was you. So I want you to understand something. No matter what else life throws at us…I choose you. I'll always choose you. I love you so much Quil."

I proceeded to kiss her, moving our bodies so that we were lying across the couch with me leaning over Claire. She wrapped her legs around my waist, and I pressed my hips to hers so that she knew how much I wanted her. I was about to rip her shirt off when I heard a buzz letting me know that the washing machine was done. I jerked back and looked down at her.

"You're probably too sore still to do anything else tonight, huh?" I asked though my body desperately wanted to join with hers.

Going by the way Claire's face turned red, I knew I had my answer. Groaning, I pulled away and moved so that I was on my side, still holding Claire close. We laid like that for an hour, just basking in each others presence as we silently acknowledged how close we'd come to losing each other. I saw Claire yawn, and I picked her and carried her into my room.

"I'm going to take a quick shower and throw your clothes in the dryer." I told her after I put her in the bed and drew the sheets over her.

I ran into the storage room off the kitchen where the washer and dryer were and threw Claire's clothes in the dryer. I went back into my bedroom and grabbed some boxers and then went into the bathroom to take my shower. I stood under the water for a minute reflecting on the day. I went from euphoria when I woke up this morning after a night of making love to Claire to feeling like death after she left me, and now I was back to feeling the greatest happiness I had ever felt. I quickly finished my shower and went back into my room. I thought Claire would be sleeping, but she was still awake. I laid down next to her and she instantly moved to my side, wrapping her arm around me.

"I was thinking we should drive up to Makah so we can tell my parents we're engaged."

"Whatever you want, love." I told her, kissing her head. "Maybe while we're there, we can pack up the remainder of your things and move them here. We should get your stuff from Sam's too."

"What?" Claire asked, jerking her head up to look at me.

"Well…I mean…only if you want too…"

"Are you asking me to move in with you?"

"Only if you want." I repeated.

Claire smiled softly before putting her head back down. "Yes, I'd like that."

"I mean, it's not like we're not going to get married in a month."

Claire pulled away again to look at me with amusement on her face. "Honey, there is no way we can put together a wedding in a month."

"Two months then." I told her, leaning over to kiss her mouth.

"It's not possible."

"Two months," I said again. "I'm not waiting any longer than that to make you officially mine."

Claire's eyes softened at that. "Okay then, two months. Though I don't know how we'll pull it off."

"Well, I happen to know a vampire who loves to plan weddings." I explained. "Granted, she won't be able to come to the area…not unless she wants to trigger another wolf explosion on the reservation, but I doubt a little thing like distance will be a deterrent for Alice Cullen. If she could put Sam's wedding together within a week, I'm sure she'd be more than willing to help us, no matter what the challenges are."

Claire shook her head, before placing it back down on my shoulder. I saw her yawn one more time, before she giggled softly.

"I wonder what my dad will say," Claire murmured before drifting off to sleep.

I smiled and brought Claire in closer. It dawned on me that after everything Claire and I had already been through, we had reached yet another phase in our relationship. I was no longer a boyfriend. I was Claire's fiancé. I couldn't wait to reach the next step in our relationship. The stage where I could call her my wife. I couldn't imagine being any happier than I was in that moment.

My good mood deflated slightly as I thought about Claire's dad. I remembered all of the suspicious looks Ronnie used to give me when Claire was younger, like I was some kind of pedophile. Now I was going to tell him, "Hey remember how I used to change Claire's diapers? Well, now I'm going to marry her. Oh and we're moving in together beforehand." Sure, that conversation should go over really well.

My mind flashed suddenly to Ronnie's gun case filled with rifles. Ah…shit! At least I healed fast.

_A/N – All right my lovely readers. The truth is finally out and Quil and Claire are happy. I know a lot of you wondered why Quil didn't tell her earlier, but for me the whole imprinting/shape-shifting storyline was a minor part of Quil and Claire's love story. I wanted this story to focus on the different stages of their relationship rather than the mythology, and I wanted you to see them slowly fall in love with each other over time. Once the truth comes out, it always seems like the couple's instantly in love with each other because they know they're destined to be together. I wanted to show a different side of their relationship before the truth had to come out. I hope you're happy with the way it finally happened. _

_Also, I've received a couple of comments now that certain things in this story seem rushed. I just want to remind you that this story is a spin-off to my other story "First Imprint (Sam's Story)." Things I skimmed over in this story, I put into detail in my other one. That said…I have put you, Quil, and Claire through enough with this story. There is not much more to go in this story, so from this point on, it's going to be full out fun and fluff with just a dash of drama. I hope you enjoy it. Just to forewarn you…more lemons ahead in future chapters! As always, please review!_


	37. Burning Heat

**Chapter 37 – Burning Heat**

Quil's POV

"So how do you think Sam and Emily will react when we tell them we're moving in together?" I joked as we drove over to Sam's house.

Claire laughed, "I don't know…relieved that they're finally getting their spare room back?"

We decided to not waste any time moving Claire into my house. After we woke up this morning, Claire said she wanted to stop by Sam's place first so that she could change her clothes, and then we were headed up to Makah to tell Claire's parents of our engagement. After we told them our news, I was planning on leaving Claire behind so that she could pack up anything she had at her parent's house.

When I asked Claire to move in with me, I had forgotten the fact the she was a notorious pack rat. The woman had more crap than she even knew what to do with. Once she finished moving her items from Makah, she was then going to pack up her stuff from Sam's house.

We pulled into Sam's driveway and I put the car into park. Claire met me at the front of my vehicle and we walked hand and hand to the front of the house. I opened the door for Claire and followed her in, not breaking contact from her. Emily and Sam were in the kitchen having coffee when we walked in.

"Good morning," Claire smiled widely at them.

"Good morning honey," Emily beamed. "Glad to see you two have worked out your problems."

Sam leaned back in his chair and glared at me. "You know…I don't know if I approve of my niece spending two nights in a row at your house."

"Oh please Uncle Sam, my mom once told me you and Aunt Emily lived together before you were even engaged." Claire said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah...well…that was different. We were older than you," Sam grumbled.

"Actually, I was younger than Claire is now when we first started living together." Emily said, laughing at her husband's disgruntled face.

"Em…" Sam muttered before shaking his head and mumbling, "So much for setting a good example."

Emily laughed and leaned over to kiss Sam's cheek. "I appreciate you trying to look out for Claire's well-being though."

"If it makes you feel any better Uncle Sam, Quil and I are engaged." Claire said proudly.

She let go of my hand to lift hers up so that they could see her engagement ring. Both Sam and Emily jumped up and ran over to us. Emily pulled Claire into a tight hug before releasing her to admire the ring. Sam came over to me and patted me hard on the back.

"It's about time." Sam joked. I nodded and smiled like an idiot.

"Where are Nate and Gracie? I wanted to tell them too." Claire said.

"Gracie's still sleeping and Nate's out patrolling." Sam answered. "Quil, Nate wanted to see if you could cover the next couple of nights."

I looked over at Claire. I had wanted to go up to Makah during the night, but I _had _been neglecting my pack duties. Claire shrugged, though she was now frowning.

"We probably wouldn't have a lot of time to spend together anyway," Claire responded to my silent thoughts. "Between packing and visiting with my parents, I'll probably be really busy."

Claire looked at Emily and Sam who were exchanging confused looks, "We're going up to Makah today to tell my parents about the engagement and that we're moving in together."

"So when's the wedding?" Emily asked excitedly.

"Two months," Claire and I both said at the same time. Emily opened her mouth to say something, but I quickly said, "I'm going to call Alice Cullen and see if she can lend her expertise."

Sam chuckled at that, "Well, if anyone can put a wedding together under a short deadline it's Alice."

"I'm going upstairs to change my clothes and pack up some things." Claire told us.

She gave me a brief kiss on the lips and headed upstairs. Sam went and sat down at the kitchen table to finish his coffee. Emily was about to turn and follow her husband, but I reached out and touched her arm to stop her. I hadn't forgotten everything Emily had done for me and Claire. I didn't even know where to begin to tell her how much I appreciated her help. If it hadn't been for Emily, I could have lost Claire. Since I couldn't find a way to clearly express myself, I hugged her instead. Pulling back slightly, I kissed Emily's scarred cheek.

"Thank you," I whispered simply.

Emily reached up and patted the side of my face. "I have to look out for my boys, don't I?"

I smiled in return, watching as she returned to Sam's side, kissing him on top of his head before turning to refill her coffee mug. I thought fondly of all of the times Emily had taken care of the pack. Even though she was only a few years older than most of us, my brothers and I thought of Emily as a second mother. She had been there for us when we needed an ear and fed us when we were hungry. And she never once complained if we needed a place to sleep after a long night of patrolling. We really were her boys.

I heard a noise on the stairs and looked up to see Claire walking down, carrying a suitcase full of things she was going to need while in Makah. I walked over to her and grabbed her bag.

"You ready?" I asked.

"Yeah," Claire smiled at me before going back into the kitchen to hug her aunt and uncle goodbye.

We were soon on the road again, talking and laughing the entire drive. I held Claire's hand throughout the trip, my thumb running back and forth over her engagement ring. As we got closer to Makah though, I felt my mood begin to sour slightly. I wasn't overly concerned with how Claire's parents would react to our news, though I was sure Ronnie would have a few choice words for me.

What I was reluctant to do was leave without Claire when my visit was over. I knew the end result of leaving her behind would be that in a few days time she would be officially living with me. But now that we were engaged, I didn't want to be apart from her for more than an hour let alone a couple of days. I wondered if Sam felt this way when he and Emily first got engaged. This need to be with your imprint all the time. I mean, I always wanted to be with Claire, but the urge was even stronger now.

We finally reached the reservation and arrived at Ronnie's house. I grabbed Claire's suitcase for her as she ran inside. Stacy and Ronnie were in the living room hugging their daughter when I walked in. I set Claire's suitcase down and went over and shook Ronnie's hand before I was also grabbed and hugged by Stacy.

"Where's Nick?" Claire asked, looking around for her brother.

Ronnie snorted, "It's only 11 am…he's still sleeping."

"I was so excited when Claire called me this morning and told me you two were coming up for a visit." Stacy told me. "We hardly ever see our baby girl anymore."

"Mom…I'm hardly a baby." Claire laughed.

"You'll always be my little girl." Stacy hugged Claire again. "So, what made you decide to come up today?"

"Well…" Claire hesitated, before reaching over to grab my hand. "Quil and I got engaged last night."

Stacy burst into tears and wrapped one arm around Claire and one around me so that we were in a group hug.

"My baby is getting married!" Stacy sobbed.

She let go of me and grabbed Claire's hand to look at the ring. They both started talking excitedly about it. It must be a woman thing…Emily did the same thing once she saw it.

I looked over to see how Ronnie was taking the news. He hadn't spoken yet. In fact he hadn't even moved. The only thing moving on Ronnie was a vein in his forehead that was throbbing noticeably.

"Dad?" Claire said, as she also noticed Ronnie's frozen state. He finally blinked and turned to his wife and daughter.

"I'd like to speak to Quil…alone."

"Dad, I'm a grown woman, and I'm going to marry Quil," Claire said determinedly.

"I never said you couldn't. Now why don't you and your mom go for a walk. I have some things I'd like to discuss with Quil."

Claire opened her mouth again to protest, but I shook my head.

"C'mon honey," Stacy said, "The quicker your dad gets whatever he has to say off his chest, the quicker we can start to focus on the wedding plans."

With that Claire and Stacy walked out the front door. Ronnie walked over to the window and just stood there looking out with his hands clenched tightly behind his back.

"I'm only going to ask this once. When did you start developing feelings for my daughter?" Ronnie asked in a deadly tone.

"I didn't realize I was in love with her until she was 18." I responded evasively.

"And you didn't try anything before then," he asked, turning to look at me.

"I kissed her on her prom night." I told him honestly. "But I never tried anything when she was younger. Ronnie, I would never have done that to her."

Ronnie hesitated before saying, "I know that. I just wanted to hear you say it."

He turned back to look out the window. He didn't say anything for a few minutes. I wondered what else was going on in his head if he was already assured that I hadn't taken advantage of Claire when she was younger.

Finally he said, "Did you know that I was really close to my Uncle Harry when I was a kid?"

"No." I replied.

"I used to go on camping trips with him and my dad. When Seth got older, he'd come too. Although, Harry was mom's relative, he and my dad were close. I used to love those trips. At night, we'd sit around the campfire and Harry would tell Seth and I stories…legends of your tribe."

I froze at that. Harry had been an Elder before he died. I could just imagine the stories he had told Ronnie.

"I remember one particular legend. It was about a group of guys on your rez who could turn into wolves." Ronnie paused to turn and look at me then. "He said that they stopped aging unless they gave up their wolf spirit. Harry told us that they usually only did that if they fell in love with a woman and wanted to grow old with them.

Ronnie eyed my ageless features before saying, "He also mentioned that their skin was warm to touch…almost feverous. The heat helped the men know when they were close to changing. The more heat they felt, the closer they were to transforming into wolves. And anger also helped them change. He said that when they got angry, their bodies would shake and split apart and the wolf would come out."

Ronnie paused as he stared at me…assessing me.

"You know, I never believed the legends were true. I thought they were just stories that he would tell us to keep me and Seth from wandering too far into the woods. And then I met Sam. It was a little disturbing to see how he acted around my sister at first. When Emily moved, his body moved too. If she got upset about something, his face reflected her every emotion. I've never seen two people so in tune with each other. It was almost freaky. I didn't think much of it though…until I met you. I remember when Claire was just a toddler, she went down to visit Emily, and when she came back all she could talk about was you. I remember it distinctly, because Claire was never the same after that visit. She wasn't even three, yet she cried out for you all the time. It was around that time that the Makah wolf started to appear on the scene. We had never had wolves come that close to the reservation until Claire's trip to La Push."

I couldn't move if I wanted to. Never in all the scenarios I had in my mind for how Ronnie would react to our engagement did I expect this.

"When I first met you," Ronnie told me, "You acted towards Claire the same way Sam acted towards Emily, the difference being Claire was just a kid. You were so attuned to Claire and you used to watch her all the time. Can you understand why it troubled me to have you around?"

Ronnie didn't let me answer as he continued, "And Claire needed you nearby all the time too. She was never calm unless you were there. You probably don't remember this, but we took the kids to Florida for a vacation when Claire was about eight. She was miserable the entire time. She seemed dead inside and we were at friggin Disney World! The only time she seemed happy on that entire trip was when we let her talk to you on the phone once. She didn't seem to come alive again until we got home and she saw you."

I remembered that trip painfully. I had gone on a drinking binge with the guys in Seattle. But no matter how much alcohol I'd consumed, nothing had numbed me to the pain I felt from missing my imprint. I heard Ronnie sigh and I focused my attention back on him as he spoke again.

"As I grew up and became an adult, I forgot about the legends my uncle had told me. You know what made me begin to remember them? That day on the beach when Claire almost drowned when she was three. I had been holding Claire in the water when a huge wave hit us and I lost my grip on her. Do you remember that day?"

I nodded.

"You were 50 feet away and yet you were in the water and had her safely in your arms in the matter of seconds. I paid closer attention after that. Memories of Harry's stories started to come back to me. I watched over the years as neither you nor Sam aged. If I ever accidentally touched your skin, I could also feel the burning heat. There were a few occasions when I would discipline Claire or deny her something. More than once, I'd see you standing nearby with your hands shaking. If Sam was ever around, he'd give you a look and you'd stop. But it wasn't until Claire ran away when she was 15 that I stopped questioning whether Harry's stories were true or not. No one knew where to find her, but you found her within a matter of hours. And that was when I realized the legends were true."

Ronnie crossed his arms over his chest before saying, "Why do you think I was so willing to let Claire move to La Push after she'd run away? I knew how much Claire loved being there. What kind of punishment was it that I would send her to the one place she wanted to be? Most kids don't get rewarded for that type of behavior. But I knew that if anyone could keep Claire safe…even if it was from herself…then it would be you and the rest of your pack…or what was it you call yourselves? Protectors? Bodyguards?"

I didn't answer, but I didn't need to. Ronnie smiled before speaking again.

"I always knew there was some kind of connection between you and my daughter. Once I remembered the legends, I stopped questioning your motives for the way you acted around her. Especially as you continuously watched out for her and protected her over the years. You look at Claire like she's the most important person in your world. You always have. I saw how dedicated you were to Claire when she was injured. And I know how good Sam is to my sister. I don't understand the level of your devotion to Claire, but I don't doubt it either. Claire will always be looked after and loved, and that's all I can ask for. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is…welcome to the family Quil."

He walked over and pulled me into a hug. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to react. Ronnie knew the truth about me…he had known for years.

"Ronnie…I can't confirm what you think you might know about us…" I started to say.

"I figured years ago that it was some huge secret. Otherwise Sam would have spoken up when I used to give him crap about the way he acted around my sister. Why do you think I always told Claire and Stacy that your lack of aging was just good genes?"

I nodded and could slowly feel a smile appear on my face. In all the time that I had known Ronnie, never had he ever seemed more like Emily's brother than he did in that moment. Just as Emily had looked out for the pack over the years, Ronnie had done his part to protect our secrets as well.

Claire and Stacy returned a short time later. We sat around for a few more hours discussing the wedding before I made motions to leave. Claire walked me out to my car.

"Everything go okay with my father?" Claire asked.

"Yeah…we had an interesting talk," I assured her before kissing her. Already I was beginning to feel the pain from our impending separation.

"I'll call you as much as I can." I promised. "And if I get some time off from patrolling, I'll come up here. It doesn't take me that long if I'm in wolf form."

"All right," Claire responded, kissing me tenderly one more time. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you more," I told her as I got in my vehicle. I started the car and rolled down the window. "I'll start cleaning the house out a little to make room for your stuff."

"Okay," Claire said, leaning down to kiss me through the open window. "Love you."

"Love you too," I said, before putting the car in reverse and heading back to La Push.

After I got home, I started making plans. Before I could even begin to start emptying out my house, I needed to make a call first. I picked up the phone and hit speed dial.

"Hello," a bored female voice answered.

"Hi Rosalie, its Quil Ateara. Is Jake there?"

"Just a second," Rosalie responded before I heard her call out, "Mongrel, it's for you."

"Thanks Blondie," Jake said a few seconds later with amusement in his voice. "Hello."

"Hey Jake."

"Quil, I hear congratulations are in order."

"Oh…you heard already, huh?" I laughed.

"Well, Alice started getting visions of making wedding arrangements with Claire, so I had an idea," Jake responded dryly. "Man was she pissed she couldn't see how you proposed…started cursing half breeds who mess with her vision and muttering something about how you better not have screwed it up."

I chuckled. "Speaking of weddings…we want to get married in two months. I was hoping Alice could help us out."

"Let me get Alice."

"Thanks Jake…hey, before you get off the phone though, I wanted to ask…you'll be my best man right?" I asked.

"Yeah…no problem. Thanks Quil," Jake said gruffly.

"And Embry…I gotta get a hold of Embry somehow."

Jacob snorted. "Good luck with that, I haven't talked to him in months. But the doc has become pretty close to him. Maybe he'll know how to track him down."

"I hope so…you and Embry are the only brothers I have…I want you both here for the big day."

"We'll find him Quil, don't worry."

"Thanks man," I replied. I wondered though if even my wedding day would be enough to bring Embry back to La Push.

"Well, here's Alice," Jake said before handing over the phone.

"Quil…give me details." Alice's musical voice demanded.

Laughingly, I told her briefly how I proposed on the beach without going into the painful details leading up to the event. I also explained how we wanted to be married within a couple of months.

"Two months!" Alice shrieked.

"Well, I figured if anyone could help us arrange a great wedding, it's you." I buttered her up.

"Flattery will only get you so far Quil Ateara!" Alice stated. "What is it with you wolves and your rushed weddings? First Sam, then Jake, and now you! I obviously can't come to La Push. How am I supposed to organize this?"

"Well, I thought that--"

"We're going to have to arrange a girl's weekend in Seattle." Alice went on as though I hadn't spoken. "Seattle's distant enough away that I shouldn't effect anyone on the reservation. Yes…" she paused. I could tell she was having a vision. "Tell Emily and Claire to meet me in Seattle in two weeks. Oh…and Gracie is going to want to come too. Jake will need to fly back with me as well so we can get him fitted for his tux, but you two can do that in Port Angeles. I'm sure Ness and Meena will want to come too. Ness will probably want to stop by and see Charlie, so I'll see if they'll want to join us for our girl's weekend…"

Alice went off from there making plans. I said "yes" and "okay" whenever she let me get a word in. She confirmed with Ness that Meena and Renesmee would join the girl's weekend. Finally after an hour, she decided to get off the phone so that she could book their flight. I quickly called Emily and confirmed with her that she and Gracie would go to Seattle with Claire. After I got off the phone, I was hit with a fierce longing to see Claire, but instead I went into my bedroom and started cleaning out my closet before I had to patrol.

I spent the next two days cleaning out the house whenever I wasn't at the garage working. I was able to get rid of a lot of things, but I had a feeling we still wouldn't have enough room for all of Claire's stuff.

On my second night away from Claire, I went out patrolling with Nate, Seth, and Brady. I had just spoken to Claire on the phone before I phased. She had sounded overwhelmed. I wanted nothing more than to be with her right now.

"Just go then," Nate said, hearing my thoughts.

"What?" I finally focused on my surroundings.

"You can't stop worrying about Claire, and you're not able to focus anyway, so just go see her." Nate replied.

That was all I needed to hear. I broke away from the pack and ran up to Makah. As soon as I reached the trees that bordered Ronnie's property line, I phased back, pulling on the shorts I had attached to my leg. It was only 11 pm. I quickly glanced around to make sure that none of Claire's neighbors were looking out their windows. Seeing that it was clear, I took off across the lawn. I peeped in through Claire's lacy curtains and saw her sitting in the middle of her floor surround by miscellaneous items. Her hands were covering her face. I knocked lightly on the window. Claire screamed and quickly covered her mouth. Oh hell! I should have called first to give her a warning.

"It's me," I whispered loudly.

"Quil," Claire came to the window and threw back the flimsy curtains. She shoved up the glass. "You scared the shit out of me!"

"I'm sorry," I said, begging her with my eyes to forgive me.

I leaned in and kissed her lips. God how I'd missed her! Her mouth immediately opened so that our tongues could meet. She wrapped her arms around my neck. I put my hand on her lower back. One hand moved to cup her breast through her shirt. Claire groaned in my mouth. I teased the peak I could feel there, pulling it gently with my fingers. It wasn't enough though. I need to feel her naked chest against my skin. I started to climb in the window so that I could bring her body closer to mine, when we heard a knock on her bedroom door.

"Claire?"

I jerked away and looked at Claire's face. She looked as disappointed by the interruption as I felt.

"Claire? Honey?"

"Just a second, Dad." Claire called out.

"Busted by the parents,' I whispered and Claire giggled.

"I'll be back." I told her before running across the yard and hiding behind a tree. I positioned myself so that I could still see into Claire's room. I watched as Claire straightened her shirt before opening her door to let her dad in her room.

"What's up?"

"I heard you scream. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Yeah…just frustrated." Claire responded and I chuckled. She wasn't the only one. Claire added, "You know…from packing up everything."

"You know, you don't have to move. You can stay here until the wedding. Your mom and I would love to have you back for a little while."

I froze as I waited for Claire to answer.

"Thanks but I really think its best that I move to Quil's. We've been through a lot over the past six months…well, past few years really. We need this time together."

"So this is what you really want?" Ronnie asked.

"I've never wanted anything more in my life." Claire said in an absolute tone. "I love him Dad."

I ached to hold Claire again. I could see through the window that Ronnie gave Claire a quick hug before turning away.

"You like Quil, don't you?" Claire questioned her father.

Ronnie stopped with his hand on the door handle. He turned back and looked at Claire.

"Baby, I couldn't have wished for anyone better for you than Quil. He's a good man. Did you know that when you were in the hospital he hardly left your side? If he did leave, it was only for a short time to go shower. But he slept and ate in your room.

"I didn't know that," Claire responded, emotion making her voice thick.

"I know he'll protect you and love you. He always has, always will. Him and the rest of the pack."

And with that Ronnie smiled at Claire who was standing with her mouth open and turned and left. I was back instantly at the window. Claire walked over to me.

"My dad knows?" Claire asked incredulously.

"I never told him, but he was able to figure things out from some stories your Uncle Harry used to tell him when he was a kid. I didn't confirm anything when he asked though. I'm not allowed to tell anyone but you."

Claire looked at me and a seductive smile formed on her lips.

"Now where were we?" Claire said leaning in to kiss my lips.

I took a step back. "Maybe we should wait until we get you moved and we're under our own roof."

Claire's lips formed into a pout. I hadn't seen that kind of expression on her face since she was a kid. I laughed and quickly kissed her lips.

"But you'll stay the night, won't you?" Claire asked.

"Well…" I hesitated. Who was I kidding? I wanted nothing more than to spend the night holding Claire in my arms.

"You know my aunt said that you'd do anything for me." Claire said coyly, not meeting my eyes as she ran her hands along my collarbone.

I shuddered slightly before giving in and climbing through the window. My Claire wanted me to stay…then I'd stay.

She cleared some of the junk off her bed and came back and grabbed my hand. She dragged me over to the bed and pushed down on my shoulders. I followed her unspoken request and laid down on the mattress. She soon followed, laying her head on my shoulder. Claire began moving her palm absently across my naked chest.

"Hey, I forgot to tell you." I told her. "Alice Cullen and Renesmee and Meena Black are coming to Seattle in a couple of weeks. Alice wants to get the wedding plans going. I should warn you though…she's really headstrong."

"Great, a headstrong vampire…can't wait." Claire joked, moving her hand so that her fingernail scraped lightly against my pec. I groaned softly.

"Emily and Gracie are going too." I added, completely distracted.

"Good," Claire said, leaning over to press a light kiss to my chest. Her hand wandered towards the waistband of my shorts. I grabbed it and held her still.

"You're parents are still watching TV in the other room…I can hear them," I told her, kissing her head. Claire sighed in frustration.

"Quil…can I ask you for a favor?" She asked, moving her hand away from my shorts so that she could wrap her arm around my waist. She placed her chin on my chest and looked so damned adorable, I knew I won't be able to deny her anything.

"What's that?" I asked tenderly, pushing a lock of hair away from her face.

"Something you said the other day got me thinking…" Claire stopped speaking and turned an intriguing shade of red.

"What?"

"Well…you said that when I was younger I had given you...um…a hard-on.' Claire whispered the last word.

"Yeah," I confirmed, smiling at how red her face was now.

"Can I see what that's looks like?" Claire begged. "I mean…I obviously felt it the other night, but I want to see you…aroused…and maybe touch you there…like the way you touched me."

_Hell yeah_, my mind screamed. But like an ass I said, "But you and Sully--"

Claire instantly shook her head, "We never went that far. The only man I've ever seen like that is you, and it was so brief…"

Claire's voice died off as embarrassment consumed her. I felt relief wash over me. I had been worried that the man who attacked her might have exposed himself to her. But Claire just confirmed that he never succeeded. At least that was one less thing she had to recover from. I also couldn't prevent the ecstatic rush that flew through me knowing that Sully never experienced this with Claire.

"Why so curious now?" I had to ask.

_Would you shut the fuck up, _my inner voice yelled. I could feel my member begin to twitch hopefully.

"I know I'm being stupid, but I want to make sure I don't disappoint you in the bedroom?"

"Claire, I think you can tell by my previous reaction to our lovemaking, that it's impossible for you to disappoint me."

"But you have all of this experience--"

"Not really. I had sex with someone years ago. And we didn't even do it that much."

"I just… want to know how to pleasure you." Claire admitted.

Her last statement was my undoing. I knew how much courage it took her to ask me to do this for her. And to be honest, I wanted to feel her hands on me more than anything.

Kissing her on the forehead, I got up from the bed and picked up her dresser, moving it in front of her bedroom door. I guess that would be a better lock than nothing at all. I went over and sat on the bed again.

"We'll treat this like an experiment," I told her. "I'm giving you free range of my body so you can see how I react to your touch."

"Okay," Claire smiled in relief. "This is purely for educational purposes then."

"That…and I never want you to doubt again how much I want you. Making love isn't just about a physical connection. It about sharing a part of yourself emotionally and mentally as well. I want you…all of you. If this helps you realize that, then I'm more than willing to help you see that."

"Is that the kind of connection you shared with that girl you slept with before?"

"No…I had sex with her…I didn't make love to her. And if I had known then that you were about to enter my life, I wouldn't have slept with her at all. What you and I share is love. Do you understand what I'm saying?

Claire nodded and I smiled. I laid on her bed and put my hands behind my head.

"Okay then…have your wicked way with me."

Giggling, Claire climbed on top of me and straddled my lap, leaning down to kiss my lips. Her tongue glided along the line of my mouth and my lips immediately parted, granting her access. As her tongue teased mine, I reached up to move my hands to the back of her head so that I could hold her more firmly to me. She broke away.

"No," Claire said, moving my hands so that they were on the pillow again. "Tonight is about you. About me discovering what you like and dislike. I don't want you to touch me, okay?"

Great…somewhere along the lines of our experiment Claire had turned into a little dominatrix. I nodded, careful to hide my amusement at this change of events. Claire focused on my lips again. She bent down and began to give me quick teasing kisses that drove me insane. I wanted to desperately hold her mouth against mine, but I kept my hands on the pillow as instructed.

Claire moved her lips to my jaw and kissed me there once, before moving down to explore my neck. She planted light butterfly kisses to the pulse line area, making my heart rate speed up. Her lips felt like a feathery whisper against my skin. The sensation caused shivers to shoot throughout my body. When she finally found a place she was satisfied with, she sucked on the skin hard. I felt my eyes roll in response. Claire then sat up and put her hands flat on my chest. She rubbed both palms over my pecs.

"How do I pleasure you here?" Claire asked, continuing to rub her hands back and forth over that area.

"Whatever you like, I'll like." I tried to help but her hands were making it hard for me to concentrate.

"Okay," Claire replied. She reached for her shirt and whipped it off her head. Her bra soon followed. She pressed her naked chest to mine.

"I definitely like how this feels," Claire whispered.

"Me too," I replied. It took every ounce of my control to not move my hands from the pillow. Claire moved her mouth to my chest and began kissing the middle of my collarbone. She moved her head to my pec area.

"And I definitely like when you kiss me here," Claire said, moving her head to kiss my nipple before running her tongue over it. "Do you like that?"

"Yes," I rasped out.

"What about this?" Claire asked before pulling on it with her lips. I groaned out loud.

"That too…" I could barely get out.

Claire sat back again and moved her hips so that she sat over my arousal. I could feel her heat through our clothes. Pressing down, she moved her hips back and forth until the friction was enough that I thought I'd explode.

She suddenly stopped and got up off of my lap. She sat back down next to my hip and stared at the area of my body where it was quite obvious how badly I wanted her. She cupped me through the fabric of my shorts. My hands clenched the pillow tightly. She unfastened my pants and carefully pulled down the zipper. Claire tugged slightly on the shorts and I lifted my hips so that she could remove them easily. Once she succeeded in taking them off, she sat back and just stared.

"Wow," Claire whispered.

I would have laughed if my body wasn't screaming for her attention. She ran her hands along my thighs. I groaned softly as she got closer to my most sensitive area. When she finally wrapped her hands around my hardened member, I grabbed the pillow and brought it over my face so that I could keep my responses muffled. I felt her hands drift from the base to the tip and then back again. Claire suddenly released me and I groaned again…this time in frustration.

I could feel a gentle tugging at the pillow and I let go of it. Claire was looking at me with desire and doubt in her eyes. She bent down close to my ear.

"Quil…show me what you like." Claire whispered.

I looked at her for a moment before nodding. I took one of her hands and moved it back on my arousal. I placed my hand over hers and showed her exactly how to pleasure me there. She soon got confident enough with her strokes that she no longer needed my assistance. I let her continue with her administrations on her own. Her pace began to speed up. My hips moved on their own accord to match her movements. My body started to shake as the sensations she created kept building until I knew I couldn't take it anymore.

"Claire, I'm going to com--"

But I couldn't even warn her in time. I felt my body exploded as wave after wave of pleasure hit me. My body continued to tremble as I closed my eyes and tried to get my breath back. I felt Claire leave the bed. I opened my eyes to see her walk over to a pile of clothes. She picked up an old looking shirt and brought it back to me, cleaning us with it.

"Well, I guess I won't be giving that shirt to charity." Claire laughed.

I looked into her eyes and softly chuckled. Claire looked happy and…proud. She went to her suitcase which was lying on her floor and pulled out her nightgown. She changed into it quickly and turned off the bedroom light, before laying down next to me on the bed. She leaned over me and touched my cheek in the darkness with her hand.

"So how'd I do?" Claire asked.

"There are no words to describe how great that was."

Claire bent and kissed my lips before whispering, "Thank you Quil."

"You're welcome." I replied, pulling Claire in close. "You know, I could get used to these educational lessons."

Claire's laughter was the last thing I heard before I drifted off into an exhausted but contended sleep.

_A/N – LOL, I was surprised no one ever asked me why Ronnie became so understanding towards Quil over the years. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! _

_On a side note, my story __**"First Imprint (Sam's Story)"**__ made it to the final round of __**The Indie Twific Awards**__ for BEST NON ExB STORY LINE. For it to win, I need your votes. Voting started yesterday, Wednesday, 7/22 and goes until Wednesday, 7/29. It would mean the world if you could take a minute to vote for Sam's story! To cast your vote, go to: _

http://theindietwificawards(dot)com/voteround2(dot)aspx

And vote under the category **BEST NON ExB STORY LINE**

_Thanks again everyone! Please don't forget to review this chapter!_


	38. Lessons Continued

_A/N – Okay, I'm going to assume by the lack of feedback on the previous chapter that you don't like super long chapters. Sorry…once I finished it, I realized it was almost double what I normally post, but I loathed the idea of splitting it up. This one is the normal length. Btw, this chapter is filled with lemons (aka smut). If that offends you, please skip this chapter._

**Chapter 38 – Lessons Continued**

Quil's POV

I woke in the morning to the sweet realization that Claire was wrapped in my arms. Sometime during the night, she had kicked off the covers she had earlier pulled over herself and had taken off her nightgown, probably due to the heat emanating from my body. And yet she still laid firmly against me, though I could see beads of sweat glistening on her skin.

She was laying half on top of me, her naked breasts pressed to my chest. Her left leg was thrown across my lap in a way that cradled my naked arousal against her panty clad mound. I groaned as I could feel her warmth through the material of her underwear. The sound of my quiet moan woke Claire up. She looked at me for a moment in confusion before smiling.

"Good morning," Claire said shyly.

"Morning," I replied, moving my hand to brush the back of my fingers against her flawless cheek.

Claire reached up and ran her fingers lightly over my lips before leaning back. The sudden movement created more friction against my already hardened shaft. I groaned again. Claire finally waking up enough to realize what was between her legs, let out a quiet, "Oh."

She lifted up slightly and positioned herself so that my tip was at her cloth covered entrance. She pressed down gently, but I needed more. I reached for her hips, pulling her more firmly against me. I sat Claire up so that I could suckle her breasts, while my hips thrust uselessly against her panties.

"Quil…" Claire whispered in an unsure voice, "Can I feel you inside me?"

I quickly rolled Claire so that I was over her. I could feel my desperation to join my body with hers overtake me as I reached down and ripped her underwear off her body. In that moment I needed to be in Claire more than I ever needed anything else in my life. I placed myself at her entrance. I could feel her moist sweetness and knew she was already ready for me. Still, I entered carefully.

I pushed in slowly, her wet heat surrounding me. She felt so tight, it was like being encased in warm silk. I went as far as I could go before stopping, resisting the urge to let my body's needs be immediately satisfied. I didn't want to lose control like the last time we were like this together.

"Are you okay?" I asked, leaning down to kiss her.

"Yes," Claire said, closing her eyes as I rocked slightly inside her.

"Are you sure…you're not in any pain?" I questioned.

Claire opened her eyes, frustration evident in her face.

"Quil, would you please start moving?" Claire asked almost irritated as her own hips began to move instinctively. I could feel her sliding up and down on me…oh god, it was incredible.

Giving in to my imprint's request, I began to rock back and forth, slowly at first and then the sensations became too much for me. I felt myself snap and lose control again. I increased the pace, frantically seeking release, only this time Claire didn't flinch away. Instead she wrapped her legs tightly around me, her nails digging into my back.

I felt her insides begin to spasm all around me as she reached her peak. The vibrations triggered my own response. I felt like I was flying as my body erupted and poured itself into her lovingness. I thrust a few more times, before finally collapsing against her.

Wearily, I leaned my forehead against Claire's, before kissing her and carefully pulling out of her. Laying down next to her, I wrapped my arm around Claire's stomach, and rested my head above her breast. I turned my mouth slightly so that I could kiss the beginning of the slope that greeted me there.

"So…for educational purposes…" Claire said, still breathing hard. "Can I consider that my first quickie?"

I snorted. "Hmm…that was probably more of a junior quickie."

"Damn…well, we'll just have to work on that then." Claire sighed dramatically and I chuckled softly in return.

We laid there for 10 minutes before I could hear one of Claire's parents begin to move around a couple of rooms over. I looked over and saw that it was 6 am. Groaning, I pulled out of Claire's embrace and grabbed my shorts, putting them on.

"I have to go to work," I told her, leaning over to kiss her one more time. "I'll be back later in the evening with the car so that I can bring you back to La Push."

"Quil, I'm not going to be ready by then…I mean, look around this room." Claire said, gesturing with her arm.

"Tomorrow then." I responded. She opened her mouth to say something, but I sat back down next to her and kissed her lips, pleading with her as I said, "Please…I want you home."

Claire's eyes softened as she nodded. "Okay…tomorrow then."

She reached up and cupped the side of my face. Looking at me with happiness pouring from her, she said, "Thank you for imprinting on me."

I kissed her again. "Thank you for letting me."

I got up and walked over to the bedroom door. I quietly picked up the dresser that we had used to block the door and moved it back to its original spot. I took one more look at Claire before I had to leave. She had pulled the bed sheet up to her so that it covered her body. Her long brown hair tumbled down past her shoulders. She looked so incredibly beautiful sitting there.

"I should probably patrol again tonight since I skipped out on last night." I told her. "I won't get to see you again until tomorrow evening."

"All right," Claire said somewhat sadly.

Because I couldn't resist, I went over and kissed her one more time. I could feel myself becoming aroused again. Would I ever be able to get enough of this woman? I heard someone walking down the hall outside of Claire's door. Pulling back reluctantly, I pushed her hair off her one shoulder, letting the silky texture run through my fingers.

"I love you," I whispered, looking into her sultry brown eyes.

"I love you too," Claire said smiling. She seemed to glow every time she said those words.

Sighing, I leaned down to kiss her forehead, before turning and going out the window. I ran across the yard quickly. As soon as I was hidden from view, I took off my shorts and tied them to the leather still around my leg. It took a minute to phase because I was so damned happy, but finally the furious heat shifted from my spine and flew through my body allowing me to transform into my wolf self. As I ran back to La Push, I relived every detail from this morning's educational lesson as well as from the night before.

I felt someone phase.

"Oh good, it's you Quil," Nate said. "I wanted to ask--"

Nate interrupted my thoughts as I was in the middle of remembering the feeling of being inside Claire only a short time ago. Seeing what I hadn't had time to hide from him, Nate said "ah sick" before quickly phasing back to human form.

Well shit…that was one memory I never intended to share with Claire's family members. The pack had to put up with seeing our brothers' intimate thoughts about their girlfriends or wives. With sex being on a guy's mind most of the time, it was hard to _not_ think about it. But Nate was Claire's cousin, and they thought of each other more as brother and sister.

I just hoped Claire would never learn that the pack shared each other's thoughts. She'd kill me. As I continued to run though, I found myself laughing. If Nate thought that was sick to see, what would happen if Gracie and Ryan ever ended up together?

Finally arriving at home, I went into the bathroom and took a quick shower before dressing and going to the shop. It was a busy day, but I found that I couldn't concentrate on my job. Every time I went to work on the shop's budget or work on an engine, my mind kept drifting back to Claire. I wondered how her packing was going. If she was thinking of me, as much as I was thinking of her.

At the end of the work day, I made my way home and made myself some dinner. Looking around I noticed that the house was pretty dirty, so I began to clean everything thoroughly. I put fresh sheets on the bed and scrubbed the bathroom and kitchen. I made sure to vacuum and sweep everywhere. Around 10 pm, I finished what I was doing and made a quick call to Claire.

"So how's it going?" I asked once she picked up her cell.

"It's all right…umm…can you see if you can bring Uncle Sam's truck with you tomorrow?" Claire asked hesitantly.

"Sure thing," I responded, glancing around my tiny kitchen.

I wondered if we'd have room to walk around the house by the time Claire moved in. We talked for a little bit longer before we hung up and I went out to patrol. Nate decided to take a break from patrolling, thus avoiding being inside of my head. I went out with Collin and Seth instead.

Poor Seth, between me and Collin, I'm sure he saw more of Lindsey and Claire than he ever wanted to see. Collin, who had just gotten married last week to Lindsey, couldn't keep his mind off his honeymoon, which in turn made me think of Claire.

"Okay, Lindsey is one thing, but I've watched Claire grow up and she's my cousin," Seth finally snapped after my mind had slipped into yet another moment with Claire. If I had been in human form, I'm sure my face would have turned red.

"Can you two please stop thinking about sex?" Seth begged.

"Sorry man," I thought.

"Maybe if you got laid every once in awhile, you wouldn't be such a prude," Collin joked.

"Hey, I have sex, I just don't advertise it to the pack." Seth said disgustedly.

"Oh really…with whom?" Collin snickered.

"It's none of your business." Seth responded.

But as though he couldn't help it, an image popped in his head of a blond woman. It was someone I knew! She was tall and had huge breasts and green eyes. Not that I had ever noticed her eye color before because when I'd met her in person, she was blurry to me. But as Seth hadn't imprinted, his recollection of this woman was crystal clear.

"Holy shit…you're sleeping with Julie?" I yelled at him.

"Who's Julie?" Collin asked, instantly intrigued.

"One of our customers at the garage," I answered.

As though the word "garage" was the magic word, an image popped in Seth's head. It was of an encounter he had with Julie after hours at the shop. She constantly brought in her red Corvette for repairs. Now I knew why.

Seth tried to quickly think of something else, but it was too late and I had a graphic image of Seth having sex with this woman in our shop! His mind slipped as a recent encounter popped in his head. He had placed Julie on the hood of her car, spreading her legs and shoving aside her underwear. He had donned a condom (and I had to admire him for thinking to use one, most of us didn't like them, because even the extra large ones were tight on us), and after making sure he was protected, he entered her so forcefully that the hood dented in.

"Harder," Julie had screamed. 'Harder stud…"

"Stud?" Collin snorted, interrupting Seth's memory. He collapsed to the ground and rolled on his back, his paws shaking in the air with laughter.

"Dude, I'm never going to be able to go into that part of the shop again." I said disgruntled.

Seth coughed. In an embarrassed tone, he practically pleaded, "Can we please think about something else?"

"Sure…stud…" Collin laughed.

At that, Seth pounced on him. I wearily laid on the ground and crossed my paws as they duked it out. I went back to thinking of more pleasant things…like the fact that Claire would be moving in with me the next day.

The rest of the night passed uneventfully. We finished patrolling around 6 am. I went home and slept until noon, before getting up and heading to the garage. Finally, at the end of the work day, I went home and took a quick shower before going over to Sam's for his truck. A couple hours later, I parked the vehicle in front of Ronnie's house.

"Hey," Claire responded to my knock on the door.

"Hey yourself."

I pulled Claire into an embrace, lifting her body so that it was fully against mine, my arm holding her firmly at the waist. I pressed my lips to hers. Her tongue instantly pushed into my willing mouth. God how I loved the taste of her. Reluctantly though I pulled away.

"Ready?" I asked as I gently set her back on the ground.

"Are you?" Claire snorted.

Grabbing my hand, she pulled me into her bedroom. Box after box greeted my view. Nick and Ronnie help as we loaded the boxes into the truck's cab and into Sam's back seat. It took about an hour of loading and rearranging everything before we were finally set to leave.

"Mom, are you sure you can't meet me in Seattle in a couple of weeks to go dress shopping?" Claire asked.

"Honey, I want to more than anything, but your father and I already committed to attending our friend's birthday party. They rented a yacht and everything. I didn't know you'd be looking so soon." Stacy said sadly.

"Well, if we're going to be getting married in a couple of months, we need to get things finalized as soon as possible." Claire remarked. "Oh well…I'll keep you updated and send you pictures if I find my dress."

"Okay baby," Stacy responded before pulling Claire into a tight embrace. "I love you."

"I love you too, Mom," Claire replied, before hugging her father and brother.

We were soon on the road headed back to La Push. Claire sighed wearily before rubbing her shoulder.

"You all right?" I asked instantly concerned as I saw Claire wince.

"Yeah, I think I just pulled something." Claire said tiredly.

I reached over and rubbed the area she had been massaging.

"Mmm…your hands feel really good. It's like having a heating pad dig right into the sore muscle." Claire sighed, closely her eyes and hanging her head.

"How about when we get home, you take a nice long bath while I unload the car, and then I'll give you a full body massage." I offered.

"You can't unload all this by yourself." Claire countered.

"Umm…I can carry in three or four boxes at a time. Trust me, without your family watching, I can get the truck unloaded in no time."

"Oh that's right…you're inhumanly strong." Claire murmured, unbuckling her seatbelt to scoot over to the middle seat. She buckled herself back in before running her hand over my thigh. A certain part of my anatomy jumped to attention as her hand neared that area. Leaning in close to me, she whispered, "I forgot how strong you are. Mmm…you have the most incredible muscles."

She started moving her hand even closer to my now hardened shaft. I grabbed her hand and held it in place.

"Unless you want us to get an accident, I regretfully have to ask you to stop." I groaned, bringing her devilish hand to my lips to kiss it.

"Spoilsport," Claire responded, before putting her head on my shoulder.

Chuckling, I kissed the top of her head. What a change in her. Only last week, she was shy and unsure of herself. Give the girl a few lessons and a chance to be in control and bam…she turns into a confident, lust-driven wanton! Not that I was objecting.

The drive home was needless to say torturous. Claire didn't try to go near my obvious erection again. Instead, she spent the drive doing things like casually hugging me, all the while running her hands sensually across my abs. Or she'd kiss my shoulder, running her fingertips lightly down my arm in a way that sent shivers of pleasure over my skin. By the time we reached Forks, I was so completely aroused that I was going to say to hell with unloading the truck. I wanted nothing more than to throw Claire over my shoulder and carry her to the nearest flat surface…I didn't care if it was a bed, table, or door.

It started to rain as soon we reached La Push. I swore silently as I acknowledged that unloading the truck couldn't wait. So instead of ravishing Claire like I'd wanted too, I directed her into the bathroom as soon as we got home and told her to take her bath.

It took me very little time to unload the car given that I had extra incentive to get the task done as quickly as possible. I was just finishing up when Claire walked out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel on. I froze in mid-step, forgetting about the three boxes I still had in my arms as I took in the sight of her. The towel clung damply to her curves, her skin still glistening with drops of water.

"Have you seen any of the boxes marked _clothes_?" Claire asked.

I swallowed before saying, "I put them in the bedroom."

"Thanks," Claire replied, coming over to me.

She rubbed her lips back and forth over mine for a few seconds, before stepping back to smile at me. Turning, she sauntered towards the bedroom, her hips swaying with each step. I forced myself to blink and continue with my task. I wondered briefly if I was going to live the rest of my life in a state of constant arousal.

I set the boxes in the storage room, breathing in deeply as I tried to control my raging hormones. Through my haze of sexual need, it was very clear to me that Claire had decided that the next step in her education lessons was to learn how to tease me. Fine! Two could play at that game.

I turned and went into the bathroom to shower off the sweat and grime from my body. I stood under the bans of water as I plotted how I was going to exact my revenge. Finally after coming up with a game plan, I got out of the shower, and quickly toweled off.

I strolled into the bedroom where Claire was sitting in a red silky nightgown on top of the bed. She was looking at some car magazine of mine. Something on my face must have shown my intent because Claire dropped the magazine and sat up straight.

"I believe I promised you a massage," I said, walking over to the dresser and pulling on some boxers. I didn't bother to try to hide my arousal from Claire's seeking eyes as I pulled on the loose material. It seemed a waste of energy to put them on considering they would be coming off again shortly, but why make it easy for her?

Sitting down next to her, I said gently, "Why don't you lie down, and I'll work my magic?"

Claire nodded, her eyes wide. She went to lay face down on the bed, but I put a restraining hand on her arm. "It would probably be easier for me to get to the sore muscle if I could touch it without the nightgown getting in the way."

Claire looked at me over her shoulder before standing up on her knees. She reached down and pulled the nightgown over her head. I got a glimpse of the side of her breast from the view I was sitting at. I groaned and saw Claire smile. She definitely had the "tease" part down!

Laying back down, Claire mumbled, "Okay, I'm ready."

That made two of us. Forcing myself to concentrate, I moved my hands to the area she had earlier indicated was causing her problems. I began to knead the muscle there. I spent several minutes there and only moved on when Claire groaned in approval. Next I worked my way up her neck to her scalp, massaging the skin there.

"That feels really nice Quil," Claire muttered into the pillow her head was resting against.

Satisfied, I moved my hands down her back. I used my palms to rub up and down the area along both sides of her spine. Using just enough pressure, I pressed and played with the different muscles I could feel under my hands.

I slowly moved my hands to her panties. I had a strange sense of déjà vu as I remembered that time on the beach when I rubbed sun block on her skin. At that time, I had stopped myself from touching her in this area. Now, I had no reason to stop and the knowledge filled me with incredible excitement.

I slid my hands underneath the hem of her underwear, applying pressure to the muscles there. Claire's hips pushed down on the bed. Smiling, I moved my hands so that I could cup the globes that waited for me there. I massaged the skin there, enjoying the sensation as Claire squirmed slightly. My hands glided down farther until they met the top of her thighs. I continued on my journey until I was almost to the center of her. Claire groaned as my fingers flitted across the area that protected her heavenly entrance.

Pulling back, I removed my hands from her underwear and moved onto her legs. Claire groaned again, this time in frustration. I felt myself smirk, but I continued on my journey, massaging her leg up and down, before switching to the other leg.

After I completed my task, I leaned down to press my lips softly to the back of her left knee. Claire sucked in a sharp breath as I went to repeat the action to her other knee, only this time I sucked on the sensitive skin there. Once I was finished, I crawled up to the pillow and placed my hands on either side of her head. Leaning down, I kissed an exposed part of Claire's neck. She trembled in response.

"You need to turn over so I can finish my massage." I whispered in her ear, licking the outer rim of it.

"Hmm?" Claire opened her eyes which had been closed. She turned her head and looked back at me with a slightly dazed expression on her face.

"I promised you a full body massage, right?" I said. Claire nodded and turned on her back.

I started with the head first. I massaged my fingers into her forehead, running the tips of my fingers over her temple area. I moved my palms gently over her eyes before applying slight pressure to her cheekbones. My thumbs ran across her lips. They parted instantly and I had to resist the urge to her mouth in mine.

My hands moved to her throat and I ran my fingers along the wildly beating pulse I could feel there. Even without that indicator, I could hear her heart pounding frantically. It really was helpful to have unnaturally superior hearing sometimes. I could tell what Claire liked and reacted to the most by the way her heart would speed up whenever I touched her in a certain way.

I ran my hands along her shoulders and down her arms. No area went untouched. After I finished there, I moved my hands to my next destination. Her perfectly rounded breasts. I ran my hands from the top to bottom of both mounds, letting my palms run over her nipples. Claire's back arched in response. I cupped the weight of both breasts, before moving my fingers up to massage the peaks that were calling my mouth. I couldn't resist and bent my head to lick one nipple, while my fingers pinched the other one lightly.

When Claire started to whimper and her heart sounded like it was going to beat through her chest, I continued with the massage, moving my hands down to her stomach. I ran my fingers over that area, and leaned down to kiss her belly button. From there, I continued on past her waist, hips, and then bypassed the area we both wanted me to be, and finished massaging the front part of her legs.

Finally, I worked my way up her inner thighs. As soon as I got close to her center, my hands slid up and around to her outer thighs and went under the sides of her panties. Clutching the material in my hands, I pulled them down slowly. Once I got the underwear to her feet, Claire took over and kicked them off her legs impatiently. She parted her thighs almost subconsciously, allowing me better access to her wondrous heaven.

I moved my palm to her pubic bone and pressed down. Her hips responded by pushing against my palm. I lowered my hand slowly until my fingers came in contact with her womanly bud. I teased it for several minutes, playing with it and pulling on it gently.

"Oh God," Claire muttered, arching her back and clutching the sheets with her hands.

Chuckling softly, I continued my massage and my fingers explored new areas. I parted the delicate skin that protected her entrance and placed my finger there. Looking up at Claire's face to see how she reacted, I pushed in with one finger and then another. She threw her head back and closed her eyes. She was so wet and ready for me, but I resisted the urge to join my body with hers as I began to rock my fingers back and forth inside of her. Soon, I could feel her quiver around me as she reached the ultimate level of pleasure.

"More," Claire begged without even perhaps knowing what she was asking.

But I knew. I pulled away from her and pushed my boxers off my body. Claire reached down and guided me into her entrance. My body was soon completely joined with hers. I moved back and forth, each thrust bringing more pleasure. Her body matched my every movement. It didn't take long for either of us to reach a height of sheer ecstasy as I felt my world burst around me.

Once we came down from our peaks, I kissed Claire tenderly on the lips. She looked at me with amazement in her eyes.

Laughing, I rested my head against hers and whispered, "Welcome home."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next two weeks were the happiest of my life. Living with Claire was like a dream come true. During the day we spent as much time as we could together. She started helping out in the garage again, answering phones and helping customers.

And at night we continued with our educational lessons. Claire was becoming more sure of her abilities to seduce me. I, of course, was always a willing participant if Claire wanted to practice her seductive ways on me. In turn, Claire blossomed and was becoming more confident in my love for her, as well as more confident in herself as a woman.

Everything seemed perfect and yet, I couldn't help but sometimes feel like we were living in the calm before the storm. And then it hit suddenly. The entire reason I had felt so uneasy.

I woke up early one bright Saturday morning. Claire's face was inches form mine. I leaned down and kissed her sweet lips. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Good morning," Claire smiled at me.

"Good morning," I replied, maneuvering myself so I was above her, my arms going on either side of her, my legs settling between hers.

I had just started to lower my body against hers when I heard a knocking on the front door. Startled, I jumped back and fell off the bed.

"Shit," I swore, getting up to my feet quickly.

"Are you okay?" Claire asked in between bouts of laughter.

"Yeah, I'm fine…thanks for your concern," I joked sarcastically. My response only made Claire laugh harder.

There was another knock on the door, louder this time.

"Dammit to hell," I yelled as I pulled on some shorts. This had better be a freaking emergency to come to the house this early and interrupt what had been a very promising moment between me and my fiancée. I stormed to the front door and yanked it open.

"What!" I practically shouted.

"Well, it's nice to see you again too."

My mouth dropped open before I smiled and jerked my visitor in my arms.

"Jake, man…it's good to see you again."

"Good to see you too," Jake said, smacking me on my back.

"I told him we could meet you at Sam's house, but he wanted to surprise you." Collin spoke up. I looked behind Jake and saw Seth, Collin, and Ryan standing there, all smiling, though Ryan looked more like he was grimacing.

It took me a second to remember why they would all be here, especially at this time of the morning.

Smirking at me, Jake said, "Did you forget that Claire is supposed to be leaving soon to meet Alice, Ness, and Meena in Seattle. Take my advice…don't keep Alice waiting."

Damn…I had completely forgotten that today was the day we were supposed to get our tuxes and Claire was leaving for her weekend trip to Seattle.

Now I knew why I had been feeling like a storm was about to hit. Hurricane Alice had arrived.

_A/N** –** __In case you still wanted to vote for my story __**"First Imprint (Sam's Story)"**__ for __**The Indie Twific Awards,** but haven't been able to yet, you can still vote until __Wednesday, 7/29. To cast your vote, go to: _

http://theindietwificawards(dot)com/voteround2(dot)aspx

And vote under the category **BEST NON ExB STORY LINE**

**_Also, please don't forget to review this chapter! Thanks everyone for the support!_**


	39. Hurricane Alice

_A/N – A couple of people have asked how much more there is left in the story. I finally went back and counted. As it stands, I have five more chapters after this one. However, I might end up combining two chapters, I'll have to see how it goes once I start writing. There's still one or two things I need to do in this story before I end it though, including writing the wedding…and anything can happen at a wolf wedding. ;)_

**Chapter 39 – Hurricane Alice**

Claire's POV

I rolled over in bed so that I was looking up at the ceiling while I waited for Quil to return. I couldn't wait to get back to our educational lesson which had been interrupted by someone knocking on the front door.

Quil had taught me a lot about physical pleasure in the past two weeks. And since I still had an hour before I had to get ready for my weekend in Seattle, I definitely wanted another lesson. Quil was an excellent tutor, though I hated to think of how he gained so much knowledge. But Quil was almost 34…I could hardly expect him to come into our relationship a virgin.

I heard male voices speaking to Quil. I hoped he would send them on their way. I arranged my hair above me on the pillow and threw one arm above my head. That was sexy, right? I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep when I heard Quil finally shut the front door and make his way back to the bedroom.

His lips brushed tenderly against mine. I quickly threw my arm around his neck to hold him to me.

Breaking away, I said, "So do you still want to have that wild, hot--"

I heard what sounded like a snort from the living room. Looking at Quil in horror, I whispered "Is someone here?"

"Yeah," Quil said, a red flush appearing on his cheeks. "Jake, Seth, Collin, and Ryan. Did you remember that you're supposed to head to Seattle today?"

"But we don't have to get up for another hour?" I responded.

I heard a laugh in the living room. I felt mortification burn my cheeks. Thanks to their super sonic hearing, his wolf friends just heard what I'd said. I sounded like all I wanted to do was haul Quil back into bed. Which I did, but I didn't want _them_ to know that.

"Please make them leave." I pleaded in a hushed tone.

"Guys," Quil said, looking at me and speaking in a normal tone. "Can you wait in the backyard for me?"

I heard a scuffling noise in the living room as four men started talking and going outside.

"Great, now they probably know what we were about to do." I muttered throwing back the sheet.

"They would have known anyway," Quil said absently, staring at my now exposed breasts.

"What do you mean?"

"Hmm?" Quil responded, still distracted.

"What do you mean they would have known anyway?" I asked.

"What?" Quil's eyes finally snapped up to mine and I thought I heard him swear.

"What aren't you telling me?" I questioned as I crossed my hands over my body and glared.

"Okay…so don't get mad, but when we're in wolf form we can read each others thoughts…" Quil stated cautiously.

"You don't mean _every_ thought…" I said horrified.

"Yeah."

"Even…"

"Yep."

"So my uncle and cousins know that you and I have…"

"Yep again."

"Oh God!" I covered my face with my hands. I'd never be able to look at any of my family members in the eyes again.

"Well Sam is retired so he hasn't seen all the intimate details, and Nate usually tries to avoid patrolling with me anymore."

"Oh, that makes me feel loads better." I muttered.

"I try very hard not to think about you when I'm patrolling, but sometimes I just slip." Quil said. "Please…I'm sorry Claire…if it makes you feel any better, I know more about Emily than I ever wanted to."

Oddly, knowing that my aunt had her privacy just as violated as I had, did make me feel slightly better. Pulling my hands away from my face, I glanced at Quil and saw how repentant he looked. Dammit! Why did he have to look so cute when I wanted to be mad at him? Sighing, I leaned over and kissed him briefly on the lips.

"Just continue to try to avoid thinking about us, okay?" I said.

"Okay" Quil stated, smiling in relief.

I got up and headed to the closet. I pulled out my overnight bag which I had packed the night before and threw it on the bed. I also grabbed my clothes that I planned on wearing for the day. I put on my robe and went to the bedroom entrance and peeked out. Making sure the coast was clear of the pack, I went into the bathroom and quickly showered and got ready. When I got through, I found Quil in the kitchen putting breakfast on the table. Jake, Seth, Collin, and Ryan were also sitting or standing around the table helping themselves to the food.

"I'm going to take a quick shower. I trust these guys to act like gentlemen in front of you." Quil looked at his brothers with a glare.

"Relax dad, Claire-bear will be fine with us." Collin said, wiggling his eyebrows. "Now Claire…why don't you sit right next to me and tell me all the juicy details between you and Quil."

"Keep it up Collin and I'll tell you everything I know about Lindsey and her high school boyfriend." I threatened and laughed at the scowl that appeared on Collin's face.

I sat down and began to eat. Any leftover embarrassment I felt soon dissipated as I listened to Jacob tell stories about life in Vermont with the Cullen clan. His children Meena and Gabe were both 10 now, though they physically were 16. Both had some type of heightened powers due to their vampire and shape-shifter heritages.

Meena had inherited some type of shield from her grandma Bella. Meena's shield was physical where as her grandmother's was mental. Meena could become invisible on a whim. When she did this no one, not human, vampire or shape-shifter, could find her. The only one who could was her brother and that was because of some twin telepathy they shared. She could also pull people into her shield and make them invisible as well if she wanted.

Gabe had inherited a gift that was a combination of his mind-reader grandfather and his mother who could project her thoughts through touch. Gabe could read people, not by hearing their thoughts like Edward, but just by looking at them. He could glance at someone and instantly know if the person was in danger or scared. Gabe could also plant his thoughts into other people's minds and whoever he was projecting on would believe that his thoughts were their own. He could do it to one person or a hundred people.

Also, both twins had inherited something else. Gabe had inherited physical strength from his father and mother. Meena had inherited speed from her grandfather Edward. With the powers the twins had been given, they made for very powerful "hybrids" as Jacob called them. I couldn't help but shudder as I thought of Gabe. I'd hate to get on his wrong side knowing he had the power to replace my thoughts.

Seeing the expression on my face, Jacob shook his head. "It's not like that. Gabe would never hurt anyone….well, except for when it comes to his Uncle Emmett. They've gotten into wrestling matches that have devastated forests. But Gabe protects people. We discovered his gift shortly after we moved to Vermont. We were visiting his grandpa at the hospital Carlisle works at. He saw a little girl there that was scared because her mother had been injured and he imagined being in a room full of puppies. The girl immediately calmed down."

I nodded, but still felt uneasy. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that I was still so new to this world. It took some getting used to everything. Quil soon came into the kitchen and we finished up breakfast and walked out of the house. We piled into Jake's rental van and headed over to my Uncle Sam's. I insisted that Quil sit up front with Jake. I knew how much Quil missed his best friend, and I wanted them to have as much time to talk as possible. Seth and Collin sat in the middle section, and Ryan and I took the seats in the very back.

I couldn't help but notice how withdrawn Ryan seemed to be. Although it was impossible for the wolves to age while phasing, Ryan looked older somehow. Or maybe it was the tiredness that seemed etched in his face that made him look older. His forehead seemed to be permanently lined and his mouth drooped into a constant frown.

"You doing all right, Ryan?" I asked.

"Yeah," Ryan mumbled, looking straight ahead. My heart broke for him. He looked thin…painfully thin and the dark circles under his eyes stood out against his skin.

"So, how'd it go for Gracie's birthday? Did you get a chance to talk to her?" I asked. Gracie had turned 14 last week. We had wanted to have a party for her, but she didn't want anything. Not even cake or ice cream.

"I gave her a promise bracelet," Ryan said despondently. "She put it off to the side. She didn't even take it out of the box."

Ryan looked at me then and I wanted to cry from the depth of pain I could read in his face. If my little cousin was within my reach in that second, I would have cheerfully smacked her.

We pulled up to Sam's house and emptied out of the van. Quil and Jacob walked into the house first, followed by Collin and Seth. Jacob went up to my aunt and hugged her before giving my Uncle Sam a quick hug. It was interesting to see the two of them together. Quil had told me that they both cared about each other deeply, but because of the Alpha gene, they could never be comfortable around each other.

"So is your son with Ness and Alice?" Sam wondered to Jacob.

"No, Emmett and Jasper were going to go bear hunting this weekend so he decided to go with them."

"I'm sure Billy will be disappointed." Emily said.

"Nah, he's flying out with Sue and Charlie for a visit next month. As it is, Ness, Meena, and I are only going to stay a couple of days and then we're going back home ourselves."

I knew that once we finished our "girls" weekend, Ness and Meena were coming back with us while Alice flew home. They planned on staying at Charlie's while they were in town. Lost in thought, I didn't hear Nate until he was almost right next to me.

"Nate, do you remember Jacob Black?" Uncle Sam asked.

"Yeah, nice to see you again," Nate said, smiling at Jacob.

He didn't seem to be affected by the fact that another Alpha was in the room with him. I was glad, because they were both in the wedding party. It was a relief to know that they could both be around each other without wanting to tear each other apart.

"You ready to go?" Aunt Emily asked.

"Yeah."

My aunt nodded and yelled up the stairs. "Gracie…time to leave."

I heard some thumping around and then Gracie came down the stairs with an overloaded duffel bag. I saw Ryan straighten out of the corner of my eye. As soon as Gracie appeared at the bottom of the stairs, Ryan hardly moved. He couldn't take his eyes off of her.

"Let's go then," Gracie said to her mom and me, completely ignoring everyone else.

"Grace, this is Jacob Black," Sam said abruptly. "Jake, you probably remember my daughter better back when she had manners, but this is Gracie."

"Hey," Jake nodded at her.

"Hi," Gracie responded, all the while glaring daggers at her father.

Aunt Emily went over and kissed my uncle goodbye. I turned to do likewise to Quil, but he grabbed my elbow and guided me outside.

"If you get need anything, you give me a call," Quil said.

"Okay."

"And have fun." Quil added, before cradling both of my cheeks in his large hands. He kissed me lightly, lingering over my lips before pressing his mouth more firmly to mine. Pulling back, he looked at me. "I love you."

"I love you too." I told him giving him another quick kiss before reaching into Jake's rental car for my suitcase. Quil grabbed it out of my hand and put it in Emily's car.

"Hey Claire," Jake said. "If Alice becomes too much for you, let Ness know."

"All right," I answered, smiling at him.

My aunt got behind the wheel and I sat in the front passenger's seat. Gracie climbed in the back. The guys waved us off as we pulled out of the driveway. Ryan stood behind the rest of the group. He looked decidedly sick.

As we started the five hour drive, I turned around to talk to Gracie, but she had thrown on her headphones and was staring out the window. I looked at her closely and noticed how pale she looked. I was also surprised to see that physically she looked different. She was losing her childish looks and was starting to look more like a young woman.

Turning back around, I began to talk to my aunt about the wedding. When we eventually got close to Seattle, she pulled her phone out of her purse and handed it to me to call Renesmee Black. I let Ness know that we were close and we made arrangements to meet at a well known restaurant. Arriving at our meeting place, we ran into the building as it had begun to rain. The hostess guided us to our table. As we approached, I took in the three occupants waiting for us.

They were three of the most beautiful women I had ever seen in my life. It had been almost nine years since I had seen any of them last. I had vague memories of Ness and Alice from my childhood, but they had moved away when I was almost 11. I also remembered Meena, but she had been a small toddler then. I felt my eyes drift to Alice. It seemed unreal to me that this woman was a vampire!

Alice was tiny and reminded me more of a pixie than vampire. She had butterscotch colored eyes and short spiky hair. Her skin looked like porcelain. She was speaking to Ness, so I looked at her next.

Ness had long, bronze colored curly hair and warm brown eyes. She also had a rose and cream complexion. She was breathtaking. I could easily see why Jacob spoke so proudly of his wife.

My eyes moved to Meena. She had long curly hair like her mother's, but her hair was darker. It looked almost black, but when she moved her head I could see bronze highlights shimmering under the restaurant's lighting. It was her eyes though that were the most captivating. She had the most startling green eyes I had ever seen. They sparkled like emeralds. And her skin looked like her mother's…roses and cream. While all three women were beautiful, there was something that made Meena outshine them all. People all over the restaurant kept turning their heads to look at her. I laughed softly as I thought of my wedding. The single wolves were going to go crazy over her.

Upon hearing our approach, all three turned their heads. Ness jumped up and immediately went over to hug Emily. Alice also hugged Emily. I was next for hugs though Meena and Gracie both shyly hung back as they didn't know the others as well. We sat down at the table and a waiter brought over our dishes. I looked at him in surprise.

"Sorry…hope you don't mind, but I looked ahead and saw what you wanted and went ahead and ordered." Alice explained, pulling out a notepad and pen from her designer bag. "There's no time to waste."

I didn't object at all considering I was starving. I started eating the food immediately. I noticed that Alice and Ness didn't eat anything though Ness did sip some water. Meena dug into a rare steak, sucking out the bloody juices first before chewing slowly on the meat. Gracie just stared at her.

"Sorry…I don't eat in public very often." Meena said, a flush appearing on her delicate cheeks.

"So, Claire…" Alice started. "Let's go over the wedding party. How many bridesmaids and groomsmen are there going to be? I tried to look ahead, but anytime you girls are near the pack, I can't see anything."

I chewed my food and swallowed quickly. "There's six total since we can't find Embry."

"Six?" Alice repeated, wide eyed.

"Yeah." I responded, trying to take another bite of food.

"Names?" Alice said, pen ready and waiting.

"There's Jake, Nate, my brother Nick, Collin, Ryan, and Seth on the guys side. For the girls, there's my sister Cora, Lindsey, Quil's sister Kya, Ashley, Amber, and Gracie."

I went to take another bite to eat when Alice spoke again. "Emily and Sam aren't in the party?"

"No, we're going to help Ronnie and Stacy with unofficial mother and father of the bride duties." Aunt Emily said, winking at me. She really was a second mother to me!

"And where is the wedding going to take place?" Alice asked, making more notes.

"We'd like to get married on the beach in La Push." I told her.

I could feel myself flush slightly at this. There were so many memories at that beach for us. Quil and I couldn't think of a better place to get married.

Alice looked up and watched the blood enrich my cheeks, before pulling out her phone and looking at the calendar on it. Her eyes seemed to glaze over and she muttered, "rain…rain…too cold and rain…ah, okay…the last Saturday of the month of April. It'll be dry and warm so you won't need to wear a shawl with your wedding gown. Now…"

The questions continued through lunch. I hardly was able to eat anything because Alice wouldn't stop asking me things. Ness finally told her to stop talking so that I could eat. Alice tapped her pen impatiently and eyed me as I took each bite. I was beginning to feel rushed and my stomach began to tie into knots. Ness eventually grabbed both the pad of paper and pen out of Alice's hands and told her no more wedding talk until after we finished eating.

Gracie and Meena began talking to each other and hit it off immediately. After getting over their initial awkwardness, they discovered a mutual taste in music. While Gracie normally never wanted to discuss or acknowledge the wolf pack, she seemed fascinated by the fact that she was sitting at a table with a vampire and two half-breeds. I shook my head in wonderment at that. It must be a teen thing to be interested in all things vampire.

After our lunch was finished, we headed out on foot to a shopping district that wasn't too far away. Alice had me bopping from one shop to another looking at different things like invitations and place settings. When I got close to making a decision, I'd call Quil and send him pictures via my camera phone. Alice eventually just used her gift and told me which ones we would end up choosing.

As we continued on our way to another shop, I listened to Meena and Gracie discussing boys as I walked behind them.

"I don't have a lot of options for dating because my brother and I are home-schooled." Meena said.

"Well, all the guys at my school are so immature," Gracie responded. "I'd like to meet someone who's my age for once who doesn't act it."

Meena laughed and jokingly said, "I should introduce you to my brother at the wedding."

Gracie perked up at that. "What does he look like?"

Meena pulled out her phone and flipped through the pictures on it before finally settling on the one she was looking for. She handed the phone to Gracie. "Here."

"Holy freaking crap, is that your brother?" Gracie asked. "I hope this doesn't creep you out, but your brother's hot!"

Meena just laughed. The girls began to plot ways to introduce Gracie to Gabe at my wedding reception. I wondered how Ryan would take it.

"What about you? Do you know anyone you might be able to introduce me too?" Meena asked.

"Nah, there's just my brother and Devlin who are our age, but both are wolves so they look like they're in their 20s. Devlin's kind of cute…oh, but I guess he's your cousin given that he's Rachel and Paul's kid. So that just leaves my brother. He's kind of a dork, but overall he's a decent guy."

I smiled at that. It wasn't exactly a glowing review of Nate's qualities, but at least Gracie managed to save "wolves" without gagging.

"Here's a picture," Gracie said, handing Meena her phone. Meena took one look at Nate and stopped walking. I almost ran into her.

"I…I think I know him." Meena said, looking at Nate's picture with a completely fascinated expression on her face.

"You should…he used to follow you around like a puppy when you lived in Forks." Emily responded for the first time to the girls' conversation.

Gracie eyed her new friend carefully, before holding out her hand. Meena reluctantly folded the phone so that the picture disappeared and handed it back to Gracie.

"Okay, we're here." Alice said. I looked up and saw a shop window filled with wedding dresses. This was what I was most eager for.

"Alice…" I started to say.

"Don't worry, I won't rush you on this one and I promise I won't tell you which one you're going to end up with." Alice smiled.

"Thanks." I entered the shop and immediately went to some dresses I saw in a corner. A saleswoman came over to assist me. Gracie and Meena went off to look at bridesmaid dresses for Gracie.

I tried on several different dresses, but couldn't seem to find any that I liked. Good as her word, Alice sat in the middle of the shop and called her husband Jasper. I grabbed several different dresses I liked and headed to the dressing room. After I tried on each dress, I'd go out and show Emily and Ness to get their stamp of approval. While I was wearing a dress that received a "no," Gracie walked over to show me some dresses she liked. I had to admit, she had excellent taste. We decided to go into the dressing room together so that she could try on a dress and I could try on something else.

Once inside the room, I pulled on the last dress I had to try on. It was a simple design. I worried that it was too plain, but once I got the dress on, I turned around in the mirror and gasped. It was perfect. The dress was an off-the-shoulder satin A-line gown with a draped bodice and lace-up back.

"Claire that dress is the one," Gracie told me as we stood inside the large dressing room. She had on a grey silk wrap around dress. The bodice matched mine. It was beautiful and it complimented the dress I had on.

"Yeah…this is definitely the one. I'll have to see if Alice approves of course." I smiled at Gracie as I turned in the three-way mirror to see how the dressed looked from the back. I heard Gracie give a heavy sigh.

"What was that for?" I asked, looking at her with concern.

"I was just thinking, I'll never get married." Gracie said sadly.

Thinking of Ryan, I smiled. "Oh, I bet there's someone out there waiting for you."

"Well, I definitely don't want to date any of the guys on the reservation, and since they're the only ones who live in the area, my luck of finding a guy is slim to none. Even if I hit it off with Gabe, he lives in Vermont."

"What's wrong with the guys on the rez?" I asked, giving her my full attention.

Gracie looked away.

"What about you and Ryan?" I asked gently "You two were always so close."

Gracie flinched at that and shook her head.

"Oh, you mean you don't want him because he and the other guys can change into werewolves?" I questioned.

Gracie looked at me with betrayal written all over her face. "You knew too?"

"Actually, I only found out a couple of weeks ago. So before you accuse me of not telling you anything, I can assure you that you knew more about it before me."

"And you're still planning on marrying Quil knowing what he is?" Gracie asked incredulously.

"Of course I am…I love him with all my heart and soul. I'm very lucky to have him in my life."

"What if you end up hurt with scars on your face like my mom? I know my dad did that to her. What if Quil hurts you?" Gracie whispered.

"Have you ever talked to your mom about that? Uncle Sam was still a young wolf when he did that. Quil has been a wolf for years, he has control over himself."

"I just don't understand how you could love him."

I laughed softly. "There has never been a time when I didn't love Quil, but I was about your age when I realized I was in love with him. Now I can't imagine life without him…it would be too painful to even contemplate. And Quil has watched over me all my life. If it weren't for him, I'd probably be dead right now. He's used his wolf senses on more than one occasion to save my life. That's what all the wolves do…they protect us. I feel very lucky and safe to have the pack around….besides, the happiest I've ever been in my life was the moment I realized that Quil was in love with me too. Once a wolf loves you and you accept their love in return, it's like you're handed the world."

Gracie looked so miserable that I went over and hugged her.

"It'll happen for you someday Gracie…you'll find someone who cherishes you like Quil cherishes me."

"I'm just so unhappy Claire," Gracie whispered, hiding her face in my neck.

I hesitated. I desperately wanted to tell her about Ryan imprinting on her because I knew it would relieve her grief, but I knew that it was Ryan's secret to tell. Still…

"Maybe if you eased up on Ryan, you'd feel better."

Gracie immediately pulled away from me, her face closed.

"Grace, he's been your best friend all your life, and now you won't have anything to do with him. When did you start to feel miserable? When you stopped talking to Ryan, right?"

Gracie nodded.

"I was always so unhappy whenever I couldn't be with Quil, even when I was little. He was my best friend for so long. But there was one time in our relationship when I didn't talk to him for several months."

"What happened?" Gracie asked when I didn't say anything else.

"I fell into a depression and ran away from home just so I could avoid him. He found me of course and it was good timing too. I had a supposed friend drop me off at her brother's apartment. The brother and his friend, who was staying there, were on drugs…god knows what would have happened to me if Quil hadn't rescued me. After that, we began talking again and the depression went away. I needed Quil…just as I suspect you need Ryan."

Gracie shook her head stubbornly before two tears ran down her cheeks. She replied shakily. "I just keep seeing Ryan bursting out of his skin…he was snarling. I was so scared of him…and I've never been scared of Ryan in all my life."

"Honey, from what I've been told, he was protecting your father and you. You brother had just phased for the first time and didn't have control of himself. Ryan saved you."

Gracie sniffed and wiped at her cheeks. I leaned over and kissed the side of her head.

"Just lighten up on Ryan, okay. Trust me…you'll feel a whole lot better."

There was a sudden knock on the door.

"How are you girls doing in there?" Emily called out.

"I think I found my dress, Aunt Em." I responded and smiled at Gracie. She smiled back, though still a little despondent.

We exited the dressing room. Gracie went out to join Alice, Ness, and Meena. Emily stopped me.

"Thank you for what you said to Gracie."

"I just hope it works." I responded sadly.

I walked out into the main room where everyone was waiting for me. I saw everyone nod and smile and when I saw the look of satisfaction on Alice's face, I knew I had found my dress. Alice also approved of the dress Gracie picked out as well. I took a quick picture of it with my camera phone and sent it to my sister Cora, who was going to be my maid of honor. Her text message back was a resounding "I love it!!!" When we eventually left the shop, I knew I had two of my biggest worries taken care of.

For the rest of the day, we paraded through endless shops looking at different items. The Cullens had wanted to give us a honeymoon for a wedding present, and while I tried to protest, I finally gave in. Alice really didn't take no very well.

Finally, Emily, Gracie, and I were dragging behind Alice and the Blacks. Ness looked back at us and said, "Alice, it's time to stop for the day. The humans are tired."

We went to another restaurant for dinner. Gracie was still looking a little sad during our meal until Meena mentioned Gabe again. Gracie perked up immediately after that. While we were waiting for dessert, the girls went off to the bathroom. I watched them leave, worry evident on my face.

"What's got you so worried?" Alice asked me quietly while Ness and my aunt talked.

"I'm just worried about Gracie and Ryan."

"Ah…well, I wish I could reassure you, but I can't see Gracie when I try to see her with Ryan. Shape-shifters always throw off my vision. But Gracie is young and rebellious, that much I do know. If someone tells her to do something, she'll just do the opposite. It's her way of figuring her place in the world. When it comes to Ryan, I think she probably feels the connection between them…that's why she fights it so hard."

"But Gracie will get over it, won't she?" I asked Alice. Alice looked straight ahead. I watched as her eyes seemed to glaze over before they came back into focus.

"I don't know what her future is going to entail. Her future is cloudy…which is a good sign…that means she's still surrounded by the wolves. It's like when you were kidnapped by that vampire," Alice said in a suddenly chagrined tone, as though she were embarrassed that one of her kind had done that to me. "I saw you get kidnapped, but then your future went hazy…so I had to assume the wolves got to you in time. I hated waiting though until we got word that you were all right."

Meena and Gracie were headed back from the bathroom. Alice's eyes suddenly seemed to lose focus again and her face started to slightly spasm.

"Oh…" Alice said once her vision stopped. She gave Gracie an assessing look.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," Alice replied immediately.

"She's not going to die or anything, is she?" My mind instantly started to conjure up the worst.

Alice laughed. "Not that I saw. Claire don't worry, it wasn't even about her."

But something in the way she suddenly became fascinated with the view outside made me feel uneasy.

The next morning, Alice took me shopping on my own. I was actually thankful when I realized she was taking me to a lingerie shop. My face burned at some of the things she picked out for me, but I still ended up getting most of it for my honeymoon. Once we finished, we headed back to the hotel.

We said our goodbyes to Alice as we dropped her off at the airport so that she could catch her plane back to Vermont. Ness and Meena came back with us. We dropped them off at Charlie Swan's house in Forks. Meena and Gracie exchanged cell numbers and had promised to keep in touch. I wanted Nate to meet Meena while she was here, but there wasn't any time. The Blacks left the next day after visiting with Charlie, Sue, and Billy.

The next month and a half was a whirlwind of fittings, receiving RSVPs, and different wedding odds and ends. Most of the nights I fell asleep completely exhausted. During the day, I had my phone permanently attached to my side in case Alice needed to get a hold of me.

And yet through it all, I was still blissfully happy, because the closer the wedding got, the closer I was to becoming Mrs. Quil Ateara Jr. I couldn't wait for the minister to pronounce us husband and wife. I knew Quil felt the same way so he took all of Alice's craziness and constant phone calls with a grain of salt. The only thing that seemed to dampen Quil's spirits was the fact that no one had been able to reach Embry. He seemed to have disappeared off the face of the planet.

But finally the day before our wedding arrived. We had a rehearsal later in the evening, our respective bachelor/bachelorette parties, and then tomorrow was the big day!

I couldn't wait!

_A/N – Since I didn't give Sam a bachelor party, I'm giving Quil one…that's coming up next! __**Please don't forget to review!**_


	40. Bachelor Party

_A/N – Some people have asked me about doing a Gracie/Ryan fic. I haven't come up with a good enough story for them yet. I'm hoping though that I'll come up with something really good for you while I'm writing Embry's story. That story is still coming up next._

**Chapter 40 – Bachelor Party**

Quil's POV

"And then I'll pronounce you husband and wife and say 'You may kiss the bride.'" The minister told us.

I leaned over and kissed Claire because I honestly couldn't help myself. Collin whistled. The minister cleared his throat.

Breaking away, I muttered a sheepish "sorry" and let the minister continue with the rest of the wedding rehearsal. There was a cool breeze coming off the water. I could smell rain in the air. I hoped that Alice's prediction that we were going to have nice weather tomorrow came true. It would suck if we had to get married in the middle of a downpour.

"I will then introduce you to the witnesses as Mr. and Mrs. Quil Ateara…" The minister said. Claire beamed at hearing that and I squeezed her hand. "You then walk down the aisle."

Claire and I turned and walked down the beach a little ways. The chairs weren't set up yet, so we had to pretend there was an aisle. We stopped walking and turned to watch the wedding party take their leave of our make-shift alter.

Cora and Jacob followed after us first as they were best man and maid of honor. Next were Lindsey and Claire's brother Nick, then my sister Kya and Nate, Claire's friend Ashley and Collin, Amber and Ryan, and finally Gracie and Seth. Gracie had seemed relieved when we first told her that she wouldn't be walking with Ryan.

However, there was certain softening in Gracie's attitude towards Ryan since the girls' weekend in Seattle a month and a half ago. Were they friends again? No. But Gracie stopped leaving the room as soon as Ryan walked in it. So there was some progress at least.

I could certainly relate to what Ryan was going through. I had gone through the same thing with Claire at one time when she was going through her "Goth" phase as a teen. Claire had refused to speak to me then too. And when she did finally talk to me again, I had to put up with the pain of her dating Sully. Ryan had a long road ahead of him still. It almost made me chuckle though as I looked at Claire. Claire and I had gone through hell, but look where we were now.

As soon as we were done rehearsing, we broke up into little groups. I watched as Ashley quickly walked away from Collin. The girl really couldn't stand him for some reason. She made her way over to Amber who immediately started going over details of the wedding. Collin ran over to Lindsey and started making out with her. I watched as Amber turned her back on the rest of group, raising her voice as she continued to speak to Ashley.

"Amb…" Ashley interrupted in a whispered tone.

"Not now Ashley…please just give me a break." Amber said in a pleading tone.

"Fine," Ashley sighed.

What was that about? Man, why was there always drama at a wolf wedding? I turned my attention back to my future bride.

"So where exactly are you going for your bachelorette party?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

"I'm not sure yet," Claire replied, before smirking at me. "Are you worried?"

"Just promise me you won't make out with a bunch of strange guys."

"With your sister there? Very unlikely." Claire laughed.

"Would you want to even if she wasn't there?" I questioned, beginning to feel very uneasy about the night. It wasn't that I didn't trust Claire. I didn't trust her former college roommate Jessica who was in town for the wedding.

"The only man I ever want to kiss is you…I promise." Claire said before standing on her toes to kiss me. Breaking away, she asked, "What about you? What are your plans tonight?"

"Just a quiet night of playing poker with the guys. Don't worry, no strippers," I replied as I pulled her to me and pressed my mouth against hers. Leaning back, I added, "Don't drink too much tonight. I won't come to hold your hair back if you get sick."

"You would too," Claire smirked.

I sighed happily. Yes, I would do that for her. In fact, I had done that for her once before when she was in college. I'd do anything for her and she knew it too.

"Just behave." I said playfully, resting my forehead against hers.

"Claire will be an angel," my sister Kya said, coming up us. "Relax baby brother! Claire…the night's not getting any younger."

Claire turned back to me. With excitement and sadness mixed in her eyes, she said. "I hate the idea of leaving you even for a second…but I'll meet you here tomorrow."

I reached over and lifted Claire off her feet and pulled her against me, kissing her until we were both breathless. I could hear my sister huff impatiently. Tough!

"Hey, save it for the honeymoon." Collin joked as he walked up to us.

Setting Claire back on her feet, I said, "Call me if you need anything but have fun. And please be careful tonight."

I said this to both my sister and Claire. Kya rolled her eyes.

"C'mon Claire." Kya grabbed Claire's arm and they started to walk away.

Claire stopped and turned around. "I love you Quil Ateara."

"I love you too Claire Young." I smiled at her as I thought about the fact that after tomorrow she would be Claire Ateara. Claire smiled at me as though she knew what I was thinking. Giving me a quick wave, she let Kya drag her away.

As they left, I heard Kya say, "I swear, he's going to have an ulcer from worrying by the time he's 40. You'd think he would have grey hair. Talk about getting the luck of the draw. I look every bit my age, but Quil looks as youthful as ever. Apparently it's something in the family genes because our great-grandfather was the same way…"

"Do you think there's something wrong with Amber?" Collin suddenly asked, interrupting my eavesdropping.

"Why do you ask?"

"Look at how in focus she is?"

I looked over at Amber who was laughing and joking with Ness. Ness had just arrived at the beach to join the girls for their big night out. Amber's face was slightly blurry to me like it always was.

"You know," Collin continued, "I've always wondered if maybe she had trouble at home or something, because she's always been clear to me ever since I met her."

"She's out of focus to me." I told him.

He looked at me in confusion, "Really?"

Just then Amber looked over at us and saw Collin looking at her. For a brief second I could see her in perfect clarity before she turned and walked towards the parking lot. I thought back to the weird exchange between Ashley and Amber earlier. What was going on with Amber? And how could Collin see her so clearly when none of the other imprinted wolves could?

Jake suddenly came up to me and hit me in the shoulder. "C'mon, we have to get you to your bachelor party."

"So where's Gabe? Is he going to be joining us later?" I asked Jake. Jake, Ness, and the kids had arrived yesterday. They were staying with Sue and Charlie in Forks.

"Nah, he and Meena decided to go hunting this evening since they didn't have a lot of time to do it before we left Vermont."

I looked at Jake and smiled. "I'm really glad your back, man."

Jake smiled back. "Me too. Actually, Ness and I have been talking…we're thinking about moving back here for awhile."

"To La Push? But what about…"

"The rest of the Cullens would stay away. They don't want to be the reason for a rise in the wolf population here. It'd just be me, Ness and the kids. Billy and Charlie aren't getting any younger, and Ness and I have the rest of our existence to spend with the Cullens. I want to be here for my dad, and I know Ness feels the same way about Charlie."

"I hope you do it then. It'd be nice to have you back."

We walked until we were at Jared and Kim's house where we were having the bachelor party. I entered the house and was greeted by my grandfather, dad, and Kya's husband. I couldn't help but notice how frail my grandfather looked. He was in his 80s now.

The room soon filled up. It was like a family reunion. All of the wolf pack, active members and retirees, were there. Ryan immediately went over to talk to Azra and some of the other retired wolves who first changed around the same time he did. I was getting caught up with Paul and Jared for awhile, before it was decided to start the night's festivities.

We sat around and played poker for a few hours. The guys thought they'd be helpful by giving me advice on how to treat a wife. Most of it was bull shit, but some of it was useful information.

"And childbirth…" Jared continued after giving me a lecture on being there for your wife while she's pregnant. "No matter how much it pains you, don't leave your wife's side during the actual birth. Trust me…I passed out when Kim had the twins and she's never let me forget it. Oh, that's another thing…don't look to see what's going on down _there_. Believe me, I still have nightmares."

Jared shuddered and I began to feel squeamish. It wasn't the idea of Claire giving birth to my child that frightened me. It was the idea of Claire having to be in pain to do it. If Claire had to suffer, then I didn't think I wanted kids.

There was a sudden knock on the door. The guys started smiling widely.

"Oh good, your surprise is here." My grandfather said, getting up to answer the door.

"Wait!" Seth said, getting up to blindfold me.

"You guys…I told Claire no strippers."

"Yeah, Claire probably also told you that she wouldn't let any guys hit on her, but I know the girls were taking her clubbing." Collin replied.

I didn't like that thought at all. I was half tempted to crash Claire's party, but instead I sat and allowed Seth to tie a blindfold around my eyes. All of a sudden stripper music started blaring from somewhere in the corner of the room. I could smell heavy perfume in the air at the same time my brothers burst out laughing and whistling.

I could feel someone rubbing their ass against my chest. I tried to ham it up by throwing my hands in the air and dancing in my seat. The guys just laughed even harder.

"Hey Quil," Jake said in between bouts of laughter. "You can take the blindfold off now."

I reached up and took the material off my eyes and then sat stunned as I stared at the woman in front of me. She was wearing a black teddy. She also looked older than my grandfather! She had frizzy gray hair and the thickest glasses I had ever seen.

"You like what you see, sonny?" The woman asked, shaking her floppy chest in my direction. Christ, even her voice was old ladyish!

I don't know what the expression was on my face, but Seth laughed so hard he fell out of his chair.

"You fuckers," I muttered. Loud gaffs of laughter greeted that. The woman started shaking her butt near my face. I desperately wanted to cover her up.

"That's right Gertie, show these boys how to dance," my grandfather said, raising his eyebrows up and down. Gertie danced over to my grandfather. I was seriously worried she'd break a hip if she kept moving the way she was.

"Gertie's from the retirement home I live in." My grandfather told me. "She used to be a burlesque dancer in the 50s. When I told her we were going to get you a stripper for your bachelor party, she volunteered."

Gertie made her way back over to me and started smacking her ass.

"My great-grandchildren taught me this move." Gertie told me proudly. She kept hitting her butt and making a "woo" sound with each smack. I knew my face was beet red.

"Did I come at a bad time?" A voice suddenly called out from the room's entrance. We all looked over.

Standing in the doorway was Embry! I got up quickly to greet my long lost friend and brother. Jacob was there first, pulling Embry into an embrace. My grandfather also went over and gave him a quick hug.

"It's good to have you back, my boy," My grandfather said gruffly. He had always looked out for Embry when we were younger. As an Elder of our tribe, my grandfather made sure our fatherless friend always felt welcome on the reservation.

I went over and pulled Embry into a tight hug, giving him a hard pat on the back. I pulled away to get a good look at him. He looked terrible. I didn't know if he was still phasing or not. If he did, he was doing it at times where he missed everyone else. Either way, it looked as though he had rapidly aged since I last saw him. He had permanent lines around his eyes and on his forehead.

"Thanks for coming," I told Embry, giving him another pat on the back.

"I'm sorry I didn't get here earlier, I got the invitation the same day Carlisle showed up where I was working and told me to get my ass out here."

"He found you then?" Jake smiled.

"Yeah…" Embry looked at Jake and a look exchanged between them that I didn't understand. "So where are Meena and Gabe?"

"Out hunting." Jake told him. I had forgotten that Jake and Embry had seen each other quite a bit over the years as both lived on the east coast.

"You're going to be in my wedding right?" I asked Embry. "I want you and Jake both as my best men."

Embry nodded, smiling slightly. "Alice apparently had a vision a couple of days ago that Claire's friend Jessica was suddenly going to be in the wedding. She couldn't see who else joined the party, so she figured it was me. When Carlisle came to see me, he brought with him a tux for me and an extra bridesmaid dress. They're both in my rental car."

"I have to call Claire and let her know." I said pulling my phone out of my pocket.

I quickly hit speed dial. Several minutes later, I heard Claire's voice. It was hard to hear her over the loud music in the background.

"Hey…guess who just showed up." I said.

"What?"

"Embry's here." I told her, raising my voice.

"You hit a deer?"

"EMBRY IS HERE!" I shouted. The guys in the room chuckled.

"Quil, I can't hear you at all." Claire yelled back.

"Damn, it sounds like they're having fun." Collin laughed as Claire's voice was drowned out by the music. Images of guys hanging all over Claire popped in my head, making me grit my teeth.

"I'll text you." I told Claire and slammed my phone shut before she had time to respond. Taking a deep breath, I opened it back up and starting texting.

_Q: Embry's here_

_C: Will he be in the wedding?_

_Q: Yes. He has a tux. Also brought a dress for Jessica to wear per Alice's latest vision._

_C: Sweet! I'll tell her...She's excited!!!_

_Q: LOL_

_C: We'll need to switch up the wedding party so Embry's standing near you. Shift the guys down one girl._

I smiled when I read that. Claire knew that I'd want Embry to stand near me.

_Q: Okay. Love you!_

_C: Love you too. See ya tmrw!_

"Okay, we're good." I told the group. "We'll just have to rearrange the order of which guy is going to walk with which girl. Claire said we'll shift the guys down to the next girl."

"So, I'm going to be walking with Amber then?" Collin asked. I didn't think he'd object to the idea considering how obvious it was that Ashley hated him. I also knew that he was intrigued by the idea of figuring out why Amber was in focus to him.

"Yeah." I replied.

"Who am I walking with then?" Seth asked.

"Claire's college roommate Jessica."

"Is she hot?" Seth questioned.

"I don't know. I've never been able to see her clearly. But I do know she has a boyfriend."

"Hey, whatever happened to that blonde you were banging at the garage?" Collin asked Seth.

All the guys started giving Seth crap after that. All but one. I noticed Ryan sitting perfectly still in the corner of the room.

"You okay?" I questioned.

"So that means I'm walking with Gracie tomorrow?" Ryan wondered, his face taking on a pinched expression.

"Yeah."

"Does she know?"

"Probably not, they dropped her off at home before they went to the club. She's not out with the girls tonight."

Ryan nodded but ran his hands nervously through his hair.

Jake's phone suddenly rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the Caller ID before answering it.

"Dad, can you meet me and Gabe." Meena's words could be heard clearly through the phone. I noticed Nate's head whip around at the sound of Meena's voice. We could all hear the panic in her tone.

"You two still out hunting?" Jake asked.

"Yes." Meena answered.

"I'll be right there." Jake told his daughter before hanging up the phone.

"Quil, sorry man, I've got to leave."

"No problem.

"See you tomorrow." Jake responded before walking out the door.

Nate started to trail almost absently after Jake.

"Son, where are you going?" Sam asked, putting a restraining arm on Nate.

"Hmm?" Nate murmured, blinking at his father in confusion for a moment. "Oh, I was going to see if Jake needed help."

Sam cracked a smile. "I think he's got this one."

Nate nodded and sat in the nearest chair where he stared blankly at the wall. I looked at Embry who just smiled and shook his head. We sat down and continued to talk through most of the night. Claire was spending the night at Sam and Emily's so I didn't feel a need to rush home.

I thought briefly about everything that had happened throughout the day. I could only hope that the little bit of drama we had experienced since the rehearsal would be the last we'd have until after the wedding.

_**A/N – Review Please!**_


	41. Wedding Drama

_A/N - First, thanks to Lindz for being my beta on this chapter. Second, I had some people ask who Ashley and Amber were. Lindsey, Ashley and Amber are all childhood friends of Claire's. Ashley and Amber were first introduced in chapter 8 when the girls were 10. They've been mentioned off and on since then. Claire has known Lindsey the longest as the two were in Kindergarten together. Lindsey is also Collin's imprint. That means that Amber should be blurry to Collin as all women are out of focus to imprinted wolves unless the woman is in danger or hurt. So why can Collin see Amber? Good question…_

**Chapter 41 – Wedding Drama**

Quil's POV

Claire was late.

Ten minutes to be precise, but late was late. My stomach twisted nervously as my mind began to run through different scenarios as to why she wasn't here yet. Illness…injury…car accident.

"Maybe she stood you up." Collin said as though reading my mind.

"Shut the fuck up." Jacob told him. The minister, who was standing near us, cleared his throat. Jacob looked over and grimaced. "I apologize."

We were standing in a half shaped huddle as we waited on the beach for Claire and the bridesmaids to arrive. The setting couldn't have been more perfect. The guests were sitting in white folding chairs talking quietly amongst themselves. The groomsmen, minister, and I were standing next to the arch that had been set up as an altar.

The arch was covered in white netting and flowers. Six tiki posts led up to the arch, each covered in the same material and flowers. Dozens of candlelit lanterns were placed on each side of the altar. The sun had just begun to set. It was the perfect setting for the wedding…we just needed the bride.

I knew that Claire wouldn't stand me up. I had no doubt about that, which was why I was now thinking about ditching the wedding to go find my bride. To distract myself from giving into that temptation, my eyes scanned the crowd.

"Where are Meena and Gabe? Weren't they supposed to be here?" I asked Jacob absently as I spotted Ness sitting with Charlie and Sue Swan and Leah and her husband Dylan. Leah, who was nine months pregnant, kept rubbing her belly uncomfortably.

"Uh…they had a little problem when they were hunting last night." Jacob replied in a tone so quiet I could hardly hear him. "They decided to go out this morning because Meena was starting to feel sick. Gabe can go a while without blood. Meena can't. I suppose they're out gorging themselves just to be on the safe side."

I glanced over and saw how still Nate had gone at the mention of Meena. I was about to comment on it when Jared's daughter, Hanna, suddenly began to play the keyboard that was setup on the other side of the altar. She was only 15 but was already an accomplished pianist and had agreed to play at our wedding. Jared, Kim, and Hanna's twin Hayley all beamed as they watched her play.

I was filled with an expectant joy as I heard the music. I knew it was the signal that meant Claire and the rest of the wedding party had arrived. The groomsmen and I got into place.

The girls were hidden by some boulders and trees that were nearby so I couldn't see Claire yet. First to appear was Claire's former roommate Jessica. Next was Gracie. Ryan didn't take his eyes off her. She met his gaze briefly and then looked away. Nate had told me earlier that upon hearing the news that she would be walking with Ryan at the wedding, Gracie had let out a resigned sigh and muttered "whatever."

After Gracie came Amber. I noticed her eyes were slightly puffy as though she had been crying. But she had a bright smile plastered on her face to mask her obvious pain. I could see Collin staring at her with a confused expression on his face. I wondered again why Collin could see Amber in focus all the time while the rest of us couldn't.

Next came Ashley who also had a fake smile on her face. I got a sense that she was pissed off about something. My sister, Kya, followed Ashley, and then Lindsey appeared. Collin smiled brightly at the sight of his wife. Her eyes connected with his and you could feel the love and affection that passed between them. Cora soon followed and then "The Wedding March" began to play. I held my breath until I saw Claire come around the corner on the arm of Ronnie. I felt like bursting with pride at the sight of her.

Claire was a vision. Her long hair was pulled into a bun which was held back by a veil. She looked like an angel and she was soon going to be mine in every way. This moment was seventeen years in the making.

Ronnie and Claire finally reached the aisle. Taking a deep breath, Claire looked down at the ground for a moment, before looking up to meet my eyes for the first time. Everything faded away as a smiled slowly lit her face making her glow. I didn't think it was possible for me to love Claire anymore than I already did but I was wrong. I could feel our connection get even stronger as we stared at each other. Claire continued to walk towards me until she and Ronnie finally reached the altar.

"Who gives this woman to this man?" The minister asked.

"Her mother and I do," Ronnie said, before leaning over to kiss Claire's cheek. He turned to me and gave me a brief hug before placing Claire's steady hand in mine. I lifted her hand and kissed it softly. I heard Stacy and my mother begin to sniff.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join Quil Andrew Ateara and Claire Elizabeth Young in the bonds of holy matrimony…" The minister began the ceremony that had joined countless couples for centuries.

It was hard for me to take my eyes off Claire the entire time the minister spoke. After awhile, Claire turned and looked at me with a smile on her sweet lips. I realized we'd finally gotten to the part where we were to exchange vows.

"Quil and Claire have decided to exchange vows they've written to each other…" The minister told the witnesses. He looked at me expectantly. I turned and looked at Claire.

"Years ago a little toddler walked up to me and held out her hand for me to shake it. I looked into her eyes, and in that instant she captured my heart. From the moment I saw you Claire, you've been my whole world. You've been the little kid I used to watch over and as you grew older, you became my best friend. Then one day I looked at you and realized I was in love with you. It was one of the best days of my life. And I have fallen in love with you more and more each day since that moment. Words can not express how grateful I am that you came into my life. You're my whole world. I love you. And I will love you every single minute for the rest of our lives."

A tear spilled down Claire's cheeks. I wiped it away with the back of my hand. Claire took a deep breath and began her vows.

"When I was nine, I attended Jacob Black's wedding with you. I remembered looking up at the altar and thinking you looked like a Ken doll in your tuxedo…I'd never wanted to be Barbie so badly in my life." Claire paused as the crowd laughed. "You've always been there for me. Through the very darkest times of my life, it was your strength that kept me going. Your encouragement that made me want to get out of bed everyday and live life. If it wasn't for you, I'd still be lost. You say that I'm your world. But the truth is…I'd be nothing if it weren't for you. You've been my guardian, my best friend, and now you'll be my husband. You're everything to me. I'm so thankful that you asked me to marry you, because now I have the rest of our lives to show you how much I love you."

I cupped Claire's chin and kissed her even though we weren't at that part of the ceremony yet. I didn't care. The minister coughed and I reluctantly stepped back so that we could finish getting married. We exchanged rings and then the moment we had waited 17 years for had finally arrived.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife." The minister stated. "You may kiss your bride."

My wife threw her arms around my neck and jumped up. I caught her to me as we kissed. We only broke away when we heard a couple of whistles and shouts of laughter.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to introduce to you, Mr. and Mrs. Quil Ateara." The minister called out.

Cheers erupted as we made our way down the aisle. As soon as we reached the end, I picked Claire up and lifted her over my head like I used to when she was a little kid. I swung her around a couple of times, reveling in Claire's laughter. As I slid her back down to the ground, I kissed her again. I didn't think I'd ever get enough of the feel of Claire's satiny lips against mine. We broke apart and turned to watch the rest of the wedding party leave the altar.

Jacob and Cora were first, then Embry and Lindsey. Our siblings, Kya and Nick, followed after them. Next were Nate and Ashley. Ashley looked like she had recently sucked a lemon. Then I watched as Collin offered his arm to Amber. Amber looked at it hesitantly for a moment before she placed her trembling hand on Collin's sleeve. In that moment, Amber was vividly clear. I watched as Embry and Jacob also stared at her with frowns on their faces. They must have noticed that Amber was in deep pain as well.

Next up were Gracie and Ryan. Ryan approached Gracie and cautiously offered her his arm. Gracie rolled her eyes and grabbed it without hesitation. I saw some of the pain on Ryan's face disappear at this gesture. He smiled broadly as they walked down the aisle. Seth and Jessica soon followed them. The crowd of witnesses got up from their chairs to congratulate us.

Leah and her husband Dylan walked slowly towards us. She hugged Claire first and went to hug me when all of a sudden we heard something wet hit the sand. Leah, Dylan, Seth, Claire, and I looked down to see a puddle on the ground between Leah's legs.

"Uh…I think my water just broke." Leah stated before looking at Dylan. "Our son's on his way."

Seth reached over and picked up his sister and ran to the car with her husband running after them. Sue and Charlie Swan also followed them out of the parking lot. Claire and I went to sign the marriage certificate. When we came back, Seth was walking back towards us.

"Aren't you going with them?" Claire asked.

"Leah told me to keep my ass here since I'm part of the wedding party. I think I'll cut out early from the reception though." Seth said looking at me.

"Sure man, do whatever you need to do."

The wedding party posed for pictures and then we started walking to the tribes's meeting hall where we were going to have our reception.

As we walked, I asked, "So why were you late?"

Claire looked pointedly at Amber and Ashley who were walking ahead of us and murmured, "Some of my party got to our meeting place late."

We soon reached the hall and entered the building. People clapped as someone announced the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Quil Ateara. White lights and balloons hung everywhere in the room. The chairs and tables were draped in white cloth. Candles inside crystal holders sparkled in the center of each table. Alice had really outdone herself.

We ate our dinner first before the dancing started. I wrapped my arm around Claire's waist as I took her out on the dance floor for our first dance. We had decided to dance to Cheap Trick's "The Flame." It wasn't exactly appropriate for a wedding song given that part of the song was about losing someone, but the song symbolized our entire relationship. The loneliness we felt when we weren't together and also how we felt when we were near each other. And as Claire joked, my skin was hot like a flame, so she thought it was especially fitting for me.

As I held Claire close, I rested my lips against her ear and began to whisper the lyrics to the chorus.

_Wherever you go, I'll be with you.  
Whatever you want, I'll give it to you.  
Whenever you need someone to lay your heart and head upon.  
Remember: after the fire, after all the rain,_

_I will be the flame._

_I will be the flame._

Claire turned her head and kissed my lips before pressing her face against my neck. I wrapped my arms even tighter around her and breathed in her familiar flowery scent. I looked over and saw that the rest of the wedding party had begun to dance on the floor as well.

Gracie was dancing stiffly in Ryan's arms. I saw Ryan sigh before he leaned down and whispered something in Gracie's ear. She smiled tentatively, her face turning a slightly reddish color. Ryan chuckled when he saw it and twirled Gracie away from him. Gracie laughed a little as she was spun around. Ryan brought her in close and Gracie wrapped her arms around his waist before burying her face against his chest. Ryan closed his eyes as though he were trying to savor the peace that had sprung up between them.

I saw Emily and Sam watching the two of them. Sam reached over and kissed Emily's cheek. She turned her body, so that her back was half resting against his chest. They both smiled as they watched Ryan and Gracie get a long for the first time in months.

I looked away from them and looked at Lindsey who was dancing with Embry. Embry kept looking around, his eyes not settling on one thing. I could tell he was trying to avoid looking at Paul and Rachel. It must have been killing him to see his imprint's identical twin sister so close. I just hoped it wasn't enough to make Embry leave again.

Lindsey wasn't paying attention to Embry, so she didn't notice his distraction. Her eyes were firmly fixed on her husband, Collin, and Amber who were dancing together. She was watching them with a frown on her face. I also noticed that Ashley, who was dancing nearby with Nate, kept glaring daggers at Collin.

Collin and Amber were dancing just a little bit too close together given that Collin was a happily married man. I had no doubt that he was 100% in love with his wife and wouldn't betray Lindsey for anything. But Collin had a mystery on his hands that I knew he wanted solved. He and Amber had some kind of connection, and I knew he was baffled by it.

Collin leaned down and whispered something in Amber's ear. I saw Amber's eyes close as Collin's lips got close to her skin. Whatever Collin said to her made Amber shake her head. She unsuccessfully tried to smile. The gesture was ruined by the tears that seeped from her eyes. Collin reached up and wiped them away with his thumbs, which made Amber close her eyes and lean even closer to him.

Lindsey looked away, but she suddenly came into sharp focus to me. An obvious sign that she was in pain. Going by the body language between her husband and Amber, I could certainly understand why. I felt like decking Collin. How could he act like this? How could he even stand to be that close to Amber? I knew if I tried something like that to a woman, she'd turn into a smelly beast.

"What's the deal with Amber?" I asked Claire in a low tone that only she could hear.

She pulled away from me and looked at her friend with a frown. Looking up at me, she reached up and put her hand on the back of my neck, bringing me down to her face level.

Whispering in my ear, she said, "Don't you dare think about this while you're out patrolling, okay?"

"All right."

"I discovered last night that Amber's been in love with Collin for years."

"How'd you find that out?"

"After I announced to everyone that we were switching the wedding party up, Ashley threw a fit when she realized that Amber and Collin were going to be walking together."

"Why? What's it to her?" I asked.

"She and Amber have always been extremely tight. Though it's not Collin's fault that he can't return Amber's feelings, I think Ashley blames Collin somehow."

I looked around to make sure none of my pack brothers could hear the conversation. The music was so loud that no one seemed to be able to hear our talking. At least that's what I thought until Nate looked over at me with a frown. As Alpha though, his hearing was far more exceptional than the rest of ours. Nate shook his head and continued to dance with Ashley, spinning her away from Amber and Collin.

Satisfied that no one else could hear us, I whispered, "Its weird…Collin can see Amber clearly all the time, whereas the rest of us who've imprinted usually see her as out-of-focus."

Claire frowned and looked worriedly over at Lindsey. "A wolf can't imprint twice, can he?"

"No, the bond we feel to our imprint is too strong for that."

"Do you think it has something to do with Amber being in love with Collin?" Claire asked.

"No, because Leah was out of focus to Sam until she phased for the first time." I explained. "Still, there's something strange going on there."

"That hasn't happened to you before, has it?" Claire asked in a concerned tone.

I looked down at her and shook my head. Even after I had shown her dozens of times how she was my everything, she still had self-doubt.

"Never!" I told her. "And it never will happen either. I've felt Collin's feelings for Lindsey. He loves her as Sam loves Emily, and I love you. That's never changed since he imprinted and yet he told me the other day that Amber has been clear to him since the moment he met her. If Amber's been in love with Collin for years, his love for Lindsey has never wavered. He's never even indicated that he feels anything for anyone else. If he had imprinted on Amber too, we would have felt it…the bond is too strong to hide."

The song ended and the dancing couples immediately split up. Ashley walked over to Amber and grabbed her hand, dragging her off the floor. Lindsey went over and claimed her husband, whose face lit up like he had just been handed a million dollars. Nate and Claire's brother Nick went off to the kitchen with Paul's son Devlin. The two wolves towered over Nick. Gracie and Ryan stayed on the dance floor and began to dance to a fast paced song. Claire had to use the bathroom, so I took a moment to go over to Embry who was sitting at a table by himself listening to messages on his cell phone.

"A lot of messages?" I asked as I sat down next to him.

"Yeah…work." Embry said, as he pressed the end button on the phone.

"You in that much demand as a mechanic?" I asked somewhat surprised.

"Oh hell…look Quil, I've been meaning to tell you…I'm not a mechanic, I'm a--"

Embry's phone went off. He frowned at it before looking at me.

"We'll catch up later." I told him, getting up.

As I walked away, I heard Embry say, "hey" in a tone that was similar to what I use on Claire whenever I try to seduce her. Embry had been keeping secrets. I hoped he'd still be around after I got back from my honeymoon so we could talk more.

I walked over to talk to Seth.

"Any news on Leah?" I asked.

"Nope, not yet," Seth said, standing near the dance floor.

I glanced back at Embry. He had just gotten of the phone when Rachel sat down next to him. She started speaking in low tones and gesturing with her hands. Embry shook his head and muttered something in return. He got up and quickly walked towards the kitchen area. Rachel put her face in her hands. Paul walked over to her immediately and wrapped his arm around his wife, kissing the side of her head. He said something that sounded like "you tried."

I turned my attention back to the dance floor. Gracie and Ryan were still dancing. Gracie was laughing as Ryan placed a hand on her back and dipped her. When he put her back on her feet, Gracie looked over at the building's main entrance. Her face broke out into a smile as she left Ryan in the middle of the dance floor without a word.

Looking over to see what had grabbed her attention, I smiled as I recognized the girl who just entered the room. The pictures Jacob sent me over the years of his daughter didn't do her justice. Meena was truly beautiful. Like her mother Ness, I could see Meena clearly due to her vampire blood. She saw Gracie and walked over to her and gave her a hug.

Another person walked into the room after Meena. I'd recognize Gabe anywhere. Not because of the pictures Jacob had sent me, but because Gabe was a spitting image of his father. He was tall and muscular like his father and even walked like him. One of the few differences I could tell with Gabe was that he kept his hair closely shaved to his head whereas Jacob wore his hair slightly longer. Both twins had a scent about them that smelled a mix between shape-shifter and vampire. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something about Gabe that made me feel uneasy.

He walked up to his sister and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. I could hear Meena introducing Gabe to Gracie. Gracie was frozen, her eyes wide, as she started at Gabe. From the corner of my eye, I saw Ryan stiffen.

"Would you like to dance?" I heard Gracie ask in an awestruck voice. I saw Ryan's fist clench.

"Sure, why not?" Gabe shrugged, giving Gracie a crooked smile. Damn if he didn't remind me of his Grandpa Edward in that brief moment.

Gabe looked at his sister. "Will you be all right?"

"Sure, I'm going to sit with mom and dad. Have fun."

"Okay," Gabe continued before he looked at Gracie. "Just so you know, my Aunt Rosalie taught me some pretty slick moves."

"Oh, I'll try to keep up." Gracie flirted.

Ryan took a step towards the teens.

"Ryan," I called out. He blinked and looked at me. "Can you come here a second?"

Ryan walked over to me. His face had that pained expression he'd been wearing for the past eight months.

"You know, it's just her age right?" I asked. "Claire dated someone before me when she was a teen and look where we are now."

I held up my hand that had the wedding band on it.

"I guess." Ryan muttered as he watched his imprint laugh and flirt with Gabe.

"Mr. Ateara? May I have this dance?" Claire's voice said from behind me.

"Certainly Mrs. Ateara." I smirked.

"Really?" Seth asked. "Are you two going to become one of those nauseating couples that no one can stand to be around?"

"Yes." Claire and I both responded at the same time.

Seth rolled his eyes and went to sit with Jacob, Ness, and Meena. Ryan reluctantly left the floor and sat next to Emily and Sam. Emily put her hand sympathetically on Ryan's shoulder. Sam leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms as he watched through narrowed eyes as his daughter danced with Jacob's son.

I turned my attention back to my wife. God I loved saying that. _My wife!_

"So…where'd you go last night for your bachelorette party?" I asked. I watched as Claire's cheeks suddenly turned pink.

"Uh, just to Port Angeles." Claire murmured, looking anywhere but at me.

"Oh really," I responded casually. "Where?"

"Okay…so they took me to that gay nightclub."

"Really?" Why there?"

"Excellent music and I didn't have to worry about the guys hitting on me." Claire replied.

I laughed. She was so cute when she blushed. I also felt relief knowing that no one had tried to make a move on her last night.

"Did you have fun?" I questioned.

Claire looked at me with dancing eyes. "Yeah, the owner kept buying me drinks!"

"And you're not hungover?"

"Well, I threw up everything as soon as I got outside the bar. I felt better after that."

Chuckling, I remarked, "Sorry I wasn't there to hold your hair back."

"Me too." Claire smiled at me before nuzzling my chest.

After finishing our dance, we cut the wedding cake. Claire, Emily, and Stacy soon left to help Claire change into her traveling outfit. We were going to drive to Port Angeles tonight and spend the night. In the morning we were catching a flight to Alberta, Canada, which was where we were going for our honeymoon.

I went over to talk to Seth while Claire was changing. I had just gone up to say something when Nate was suddenly by my side.

"So you guys clean out the kitchen?" I joked. Nate laughed.

"Almost…I left Devlin and Nick to finish off the rest. I just felt like I had to be out here. The feeling kept getting stronger and stronger, so I decided to come and check things out."

"Any reason why you were feeling that way?" I asked.

When Nate didn't respond, I glanced over and him. Seth also looked over at him and began to chuckle. I followed Nate's gaze to see what he was so fixated on. I felt myself smirk as I realized what held his interest.

Meena Black was laughing and joking at something her dad was saying a few tables away. She threw back her head and laughed, her reddish brown hair shimmering under the room's soft lighting. Her laughter reminded me of the Cullens. It had a musical quality to it. I looked back at Nate and recognized the clear signs of someone who had just imprinted.

"Nate? You in there?" Seth joked.

Nate shook his head dazedly. "Who's that girl with Jacob?"

"That would be Meena Black," I responded.

"Meena," Nate repeated in a soft caressing tone. "Quil, will you introduce me?"

I smiled at that. Nate might be my Alpha, but he was also just a teenager with teenage tendencies.

"Sure." I replied.

We walked over to the table Jake, Ness, and Meena were sitting at. Jake took one look at Nate and said, "Well, shit."

"Meena, Ness, this is Nate Uley. Nate, meet Meena and Ness Black." I introduced them.

"Mrs. Black," Nate nodded politely at Ness before turning his attention back to Meena. In a soft tone, he said, "Meena."

"Please call me Ness." Renesmee replied. She looked at Jacob with a question in her eyes. He nodded not taking his eyes off Nate. Meena was staring at Nate, completely fascinated.

"Would you like to dance?" Nate asked. Meena nodded shyly, placing her hand in his. You could almost see the electricity that shot up between them. Nate never took his eyes off her as they reached the dance floor.

"Well, I guess we'll have to move here now." Jacob said. "We can't keep them apart now, unless we want to make our daughter miserable."

"True," Ness said, looking a little sad as she added, "We'll have to tell mom and dad when we get back."

"We'll still go and see them, Ness," Jake said, picking up Ness's hand and kissing it. "It's not like we're moving away forever.

Seth suddenly leaned towards me and said, "Do you ever get the sense that we've watched this scene before?"

He nodded in the direction of where Meena and Nate were dancing. They weren't talking. They were just staring at each other.

I started to chuckle when I realized what Seth was talking about. I remembered another wedding…Jake's wedding. Seth and I had stood around like we were now, joking about the possibilities of Sam's son imprinting on Jake's unborn daughter. Even though Nate had only been five-years-old at the time, he had felt an instant connection to his imprint even then. I looked at Jake to see how he was really handling things, but he was now busy making out with Nessie.

There was a sudden commotion on the dance floor that drew all of our attention.

"Stay the hell away from my sister," Gabe yelled as he punched Nate hard in the face. Nate went flying back.

"Stop it Gabe," Meena yelled as she went to help Nate up.

Nate jumped up to his feet. He was trembling all over. He ran over and tackled Gabe. They went flying out the emergency exit. Meena and Gracie followed them outside. Seth and I also went running for the exit door. I could hear Sam and Jacob inside working on crowd control, telling people to get back to the party. As Alphas, they both knew what was important, which was to put people's safety first. The last thing we needed were people coming outside to see a vampire hybrid and a wolf fighting.

I ran outside but came to a dead stop at the sight in front of me. Instead of the wolf/vampire fight I was expecting to see, there were two wolves fighting each other. Nate's wolf form was obvious. It took me a second to realize the other wolf was Gabe. Gabe had a reddish brown coat that was darker than his father's. He was slightly smaller than Nate, but that didn't stop him from ripping his claws into his opponent, who howled in anger.

I realized now why I'd felt uneasy when I first saw Gabe. It should have been so obvious. Poor Nate was going to have to deal with an imprint problem like the rest of us. His imprint's twin brother was an Alpha like him. As Nate had inherited the Alpha gene from Sam, Gabe had inherited the same gene from Jake.

The two boys had taken an instant, unavoidable loathing towards each other. Gabe had obviously seen Nate and Meena dancing too close to each other on the dance floor, and Gabe had felt a need to protect his twin by throwing a punch at Nate. The two boys couldn't prevent their ingrained animosity anymore than Sam and Jacob had. It was part of who they were. Two Alphas couldn't be around each other without wanting to kill each other.

I glanced over and saw that both Meena and Gracie were standing nearby watching the wolves fight, both with expressions of horror on their faces.

"Girls, get back inside," I ordered.

Meena nodded and immediately headed indoors. Gracie stood frozen as she watched the spectacle in front of her. Sensing Gracie's distress, Ryan came running out of the building. He took one look at the fighting Alphas and ran over to Gracie, throwing her behind him.

The sudden movement woke Gracie out of her daze. The fact that her brother had just phased in front of her along with her potential new boyfriend, made Gracie flip out again. She turned on Ryan and started pummeling his back with her fists. Ryan's only reaction was a very visible tensing of his jaw.

"You're monsters…uncontrollable MONSTERS!" Gracie screamed.

I heard Seth mutter "shit" as we watched Ryan finally snap. After waiting months for Gracie to come around…after putting up with her treating him like garbage and then having to deal with the pain of watching Gracie flirt with Gabe all night, Ryan finally lost whatever was left of his self-control.

He turned around and grabbed Gracie by the arms, yanking her up against him before slamming his mouth against hers. I heard her whimper, her fists beating uselessly against his back, though for a split second I could have sworn her hands actually clutched him.

Nate and Gabe felt a change in the air and both stopped fighting long enough for them to see Ryan kissing Nate's 14-year-old sister. Nate growled furiously. I could tell that he used his Alpha power against Ryan. Alphas were only supposed to have control over us while we were in wolf form. But no one could ever deny that Nate wasn't an incredibly powerful wolf. Upon feeling Nate's order, Ryan jerked away from Gracie as though he had been electrocuted. Gracie brought a trembling hand to her lip, which was now bleeding.

"Grace," Ryan said, complete shock in his voice. "I'm sorry--"

"Monster," Gracie whispered with tears shimmering in her eyes. She turned and quickly ran from the building.

Ryan ran a shaking hand through his short hair as he watched Gracie leave. He turned away so that he was facing the wall of the building. Staring at it for a minute, he drew back his fist and punched it hard. Pieces of brick crumpled away upon impact. Ryan glanced over at me and Seth. Carefully avoiding Nate's eyes, he shook his head futilely.

"I'm sorry," was all he said, before heading in the opposite direction that Gracie had run.

"Probably best if you don't mention that to Sam. I'd hate for him to kill his future son-in-law."

I turned around to see my grandfather Quil Sr. standing behind me with a look of amusement on his face. He looked so thin under the moonlight. I went over to him, just as Jake came bursting outside.

Nate and Gabe were beginning to circle each other again, growls beginning to emanate from both of them.

"Enough," Jake yelled. "This isn't the time or place…think of the pack. Think of protecting our secret. Gabe, go get dressed. There are some clothes in the back of the car you can wear."

Gabe looked at his father than back to Nate. His lips curled over his teeth and he let out one more growl before backing slowly away. Not taking his eyes off Nate, he continued to walk backwards until he was nothing more than a shadow with glowing eyes.

Nate turned and looked at me and whimpered. He kept looking inside the building where Meena was and then he'd look in the direction his sister ran too.

"Gracie needs you more now." I told him.

With a huffing noise, Nate ran in the direction of his house. Seth, my grandfather, and I turned to look at Jake.

"Dude, you never told us your son was a shape-shifter." Seth said.

"That's because I didn't know he could even phase until last night. That's why I had to leave the party. He changed for the first time while he and Meena were out hunting. I'm only thankful that she's a shield. She made herself invisible until I got there. God knows what Gabe could have done to her if he'd seen her."

"But he's an Alpha." I said. We had all felt it coming off Gabe in waves.

"I know," Jake said.

"Doesn't it affect you?" I asked. "Sam and Nate could hardly be around each other before Nate phased."

"No," Jake said.

"Probably because of your son's vampire blood," My grandfather interjected. "Your imprint's part vampire…the connection you feel towards your wife probably dulls the typical animosity somehow."

"What about you? Are you still an Alpha?" Seth asked Jacob.

"I felt my Alpha power go dormant as soon as Gabe changed."

"But you just told them to stop fighting and they did." I said.

Jacob half smiled at that. "Well, I'm still Gabe's father. He damn well better listen to me."

"And let's not forget that Nate's going to marry Meena someday," Seth joked. "Nate probably wanted to make a good impression on Jacob."

"I don't want to think about that yet." Jake said, his jaw tense. He went off to find his son.

"I don't think that's the reason Nate stopped." My grandfather remarked.

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"Once Alphas get into attack mode, that's it…they want to kill each other. Sam and Jake couldn't even meet in wolf form because the urge to attack each other was too strong."

"Why do you think Nate stopped then?" I asked.

"I don't know…" my grandfather murmured. "Maybe he's a lot stronger than any of us ever thought. I guess he's going to need that to be a part of the Cullen family someday."

I noticed my grandfather was staring in the direction that Jake and his son had disappeared to. He had a satisfied expression on his face.

"What's that look for?" I asked my grandfather suspiciously.

"Oh, I was just thinking of lineage. There's no doubt that Nate is one of the most powerful Alphas ever created. The fact that he just imprinted on the daughter of another powerful Alpha speaks for itself. The two lines will combine and the pack will have one true leader again."

"Unless Gabe has kids with Alpha genes." I mentioned.

"Unless Gabe imprinted on Gracie, which it's obvious he didn't, his children will not have the same strength as Meena and Nate's will."

"Quil?" Sam came outside with Emily. "Where are Nate and Gracie?"

"Nate phased in front of Gracie, so she went home. Nate went to see if she was all right."

"Claire's ready to leave," Emily said, looking in the direction of her house with a worried expression on her face.

I hesitated briefly. I hated to leave when there was so much turmoil going on.

"Would you get going. Your wife is waiting for you." Sam stated. I walked by him and he reached out and gave me a quick pat on the back.

"Take care of my surrogate daughter, okay?"

"Always," I replied. Emily reached up to hug me as well.

I walked back inside and there was Claire surrounded by friends and family.

"Everything okay?" She asked as I walked up to her.

"Yeah…everything's fine now." I replied, leaning down to kiss her lips. "You ready to go Mrs. Ateara."

Claire blushed. The crowd around us laughed. I grabbed Claire's hand as we ran out the main door. My car was waiting for us. I helped Claire into her seat before sliding behind the wheel. We waved and took off down the road. As we were leaving, I looked in the rearview mirror one more time to look at all the people behind us.

I shook my head and smiled. Would we ever have a wolf wedding on the reservation that didn't have drama?

_A/N – LOL, it should not have surprised any of you that Nate imprinted on Meena. I've been hinting at that since Meena's conception. Still, I hope you got a few surprises out of this chapter. The honeymoon is next…expect major smutty lemons. __**Please review!**_

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	42. The Honeymoon

_A/N - One of my reviewers asked if we'd ever see an intimate scene between Claire and Quil from Claire's POV. I thought about it and decided to do the whole honeymoon from Claire's perspective. However, the chapter will later switch back to Quil's POV. Please note that this chapter contains mostly lemons (smut) and is intended for mature audiences only._

**Chapter 42 - The Honeymoon**

Claire's POV

"Ryan kissed Gracie!" I said in a surprised tone.

"Yeah," Quil replied. He had been filling me in on everything I missed during the reception while I was changing out of my wedding dress. We were almost to Port Angeles where we were spending the night before our flight to our mystery honeymoon spot.

"How did Gracie react?" I wondered.

Quil seemed to hesitate before saying, "Not good. She was upset anyway because

Gabe and Nate phased in front of her. Poor kid. The only two times she's ever seen any of us phase was because it was triggered by anger. She ended up taking off after Ryan kissed her."

"Poor Gracie…" I agreed. "And now Nate's imprinted on Jacob's daughter." I repeated information Quil told me earlier in our drive.

"Yeah," Quil replied, his hands steady on the steering wheel.

"And Jacob's son is an Alpha too?" I questioned and Quil nodded. I thought about the stories I'd heard about my Uncle Sam and Jacob Black. When Jacob had become an Alpha, it had pretty much destroyed their friendship as the two couldn't stand to be around each other.

I asked sadly, "So what's Nate going to do?"

"I don't know…it's a messy situation. I don't envy the position Meena is in. I have a feeling there will be several situations where she's torn between her twin and her soul mate."

"I guess this means that Nate's going to become immortal." I stated feeling a little sad. All of us were going to grow old someday and Nate would eventually have to say goodbye to all of us. Poor Nate.

Quil glanced over at me and kissed my hand. As though sensing my melancholy mood, he said, "So are you going to tell me where we're going for our honeymoon?"

"Oh…" I smiled before reaching up to turn on the overhead light in the car. I reached down for my purse. I knew that we were going to Canada, but I wasn't sure exactly where. Alice had wanted it to be a surprise. I pulled out the envelope and read Alice's handwriting on top of it.

_Do not open until your wedding day._

I opened the envelope and peered inside. There was a brochure with a note attached to it.

_This place brings back a lot of memories for my husband and me. We discovered it in the 1940s. I hope you create some memories of your own here. _

_Lots of love, _

_Alice_

I looked at the brochure and read it out loud. "The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge in Jasper, Alberta. They booked us the Athabasca Cottage. According to the brochure, the cottage is 'popular for honeymoons and anniversaries, the secluded cabin has one bedroom with a queen-size bed. The cabin offers a bathroom with whirlpool, and a sitting room with a wood-burning fireplace.'"

"Wait…we're going to Jasper, Alberta? Jasper?" Quil asked before he started to laugh. He added, "Go figure."

I stared at him for a minute before I started laughing too. I had forgotten that Alice's husband's name was Jasper. I shook my head as I looked back at the brochure.

"According to the information, the lodge is in the Rocky Mountains," I told him.

"That's probably why they liked it so much," Quil said. "There's a lot of wild game in the area."

We pulled into the hotel in Port Angeles and checked in at the front desk. Quil wrapped his arm around my waist as he hurried me to our room. As soon as the door closed behind us, Quil pushed me against it and began kissing a sensitive area on my neck. I threw my head back but the pins from the bun in my hair jabbed my scalp.

"Quil…" I muttered, though it was becoming hard to concentrate. I felt another pin dig painfully into my skin. "Quil…wait."

With a groan, Quil pulled back, desire burning in his eyes.

"Do you mind if I freshen up first?" I asked.

Sighing, Quil leaned forward and captured my lips in his. I almost forgot what I had asked as his tongue darted between my lips to move sensually against mine.

Quil pulled away again and moved his lips to my ear and whispered, "Hurry."

"Okay," I barely got out as Quil reclaimed my mouth one more time before releasing me and walking into the room.

I grabbed my suitcase and took it in the bathroom. I shut the door behind me and put the suitcase against the door so that I would have room to open it. I unzipped the luggage and found the satin chemise gown I wanted to wear tonight. It was a beautiful shade of deep purple with a low v-neck opening that was held together by lace. I had sexier items with me. Alice insisted that I buy a black lace corset with detachable garters, but I was saving that for later in the week.

I pulled out my toothbrush and made sure that I gave my teeth and tongue a thorough brushing before I rinsed my mouth with mouthwash. I cupped my hand over my lips and did a quick breath test. I could smell nothing but minty freshness.

Next I reached up and took the bun out of my hair. My hair for the most part fell into soft curls down my back, but there was a strange kink in my hair from the ponytail holder. I debated with myself for half a second before I went and turned on the shower.

I rinsed off the day and spent time lathering my skin in my favorite floral soap. I made sure to shave earlier in the day so I didn't have to worry about that. I double checked though to make sure my legs and other areas were still smooth. When I got out of the shower, I applied my favorite lip gloss to my lips and used the hotel's blow dryer to dry my hair. Placing the satiny gown on, I looked at myself in the mirror.

I hunched my shoulders forward and bent slightly forward to see how my girls looked. Straightening up again, I reached inside the gown and pulled my breasts up against the material so that they looked fuller. Satisfied, I reached into my purse to take my birth control pill.

That was when I noticed that I didn't have the familiar container with me. Swearing, I tore my suitcase apart looking for the small pill compartment. Dammit! I must have left it at home. I didn't know how Quil felt about condoms either. I hoped I didn't ruin our honeymoon. We'd have to drive back to get the pills. Sighing, I shoved my suitcase out of the way and made my way out to confess my stupidity to my husband.

I walked two feet in the room and stopped. Quil was lying on the bed, his hands folded over his chest. He was in nothing but his boxers. I had never seen him look sexier. He was also fast asleep. I looked at the clock on top of the nightstand and realized that I had taken over an hour to get ready.

I crawled up on the bed next to him. I rested my head on his shoulder and wrapped my arm around his chest. I'd wake him up in a few minutes to tell him we needed to go back for my birth control. I closed my eyes and pressed my nose to his skin so that I could breathe in his familiar scent. I loved the way he smelled.

The next thing I knew, the phone on the nightstand started to ring. I jerked awake, blinking from the light of the lamp that was still on. Reaching over Quil for the phone, I said groggily, "Hello."

"This is your morning wakeup call. The time is now 5 am."

"Thank you," I responded before hanging up. I turned to look at Quil and saw that he was staring at me with a half smile on his handsome face.

"Morning," he murmured, reaching up to lazily brush the hair off my cheek.

"Good morning," I responded. I didn't know why, but for some reason I felt absurdly shy.

"Sorry, I fell asleep on you last night…not much of a start to our honeymoon," Quil remarked, his fingers lingering on my cheek.

"It was my fault," I told him. "I took too long in the bathroom."

"You look beautiful." Quil said, his eyes lingering on my barely covered breasts. He pulled me up to him and gave me a long, drugging kiss.

Groaning, Quil said. "I guess we should get going though, huh? We need to check out, eat, and get to the airport."

"All right." I replied, getting up off his chest. I went into the bathroom to quickly brush my hair and teeth. I applied light makeup, before grabbing a fresh change of clothes and dressing quickly. I threw everything back in my suitcase and zipped it up.

"Bathroom's all yours," I told Quil as I carried my luggage out and placed it next to the room's main door.

I soon heard the shower going and laid back down on the bed. I was so unbelievably tired. By the time we got to the hotel last night and I'd finally fallen asleep, it had been around 2 am. I only had three hours sleep at the most. I closed my eyes wearily as I waited for my husband to finish getting ready. I was sleeping soundly when I suddenly felt Quil's firm lips against mine.

"Hey Sleeping Beauty, we've got to get going if we want to catch our flight."

"Fine," I grumbled as I got out of bed. Quil laughed and I crabbily asked, "What's so freaking funny?"

"You're so cute in the morning. You really don't operate well on a few hours of sleep." Quil snickered as I glared at him. He walked over and pulled me against him. Kissing my jaw, he murmured. "Maybe this will wake you up."

He ran his lips down to my throat area and sucked lightly on the skin there. I groaned as I felt myself become more awake…and more aroused. Quil pulled back and grabbed my hand to kiss my palm before letting me go to get our suitcases.

We checked out of the hotel and grabbed breakfast at a local diner before we headed to the airport. We were airborne before I was conscious enough to remember my lack of birth control pills. I looked at Quil and promptly burst out into weepy, tired tears.

"Claire, what is it?" Quil asked, instantly worried. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I instinctively pressed my face into his neck. That was my comfort zone.

"I'm sorry…" I sobbed quietly. "It's all my stupid fault."

"Claire…tell me what's upset you so much," Quil begged, cupping my neck and cheek with his free hand.

I shook my head and sobbed harder. I knew I would have handled what I had to tell him a lot better if I wasn't running on a few hours sleep. But because of my exhaustion, I felt like I single handedly destroyed our honeymoon. That idea made me cry even more.

"Please! You're starting to scare me." Quil told me. I could feel his hand begin to tremble. Dammit. All we needed was for him to phase because I was acting like a moron.

"It's all my fault," I stated, wallowing in self-pity. "I ruined our honeymoon."

"How so?" Quil said in a soothing tone.

I suddenly became irritated when I realized I remembered that voice from my childhood. I pulled away to tell him I didn't appreciate his patronizing tone when I looked into his concerned eyes. It distracted me and I forgot what upset me in the first place. God I was tired! Wait…I needed to focus…I had something important to tell Quil…oh right…

"I forgot my birth control pills." I whispered, but knew that Quil heard me over the noise of the airplane. He froze for a second before he threw his head back and started to laugh.

"Is that all? I thought you were going to tell me something horrible."

"You're not upset?"

"Nah…we'll just make a stop before we get to the hotel and buy some condoms." Quil assured me. "Unless…"

"Unless?" I asked, starting to feel queasy from lack of sleep.

"Unless you don't want me to wear anything," Quil said, staring intently in my eyes.

"But…would you want me to get pregnant?" I asked.

"Claire, I'd love to have kids with you, but only when you're ready." Quil replied, kissing my forehead.

I moved my head so that I could look into his eyes. A vision of a little boy with Quil's eyes and hair popped into my head. I suddenly realized how much I wanted that dream to come true.

"Don't bother with the condoms," I told him.

Quil's eyes lit up, but he said, "That's not the exhaustion talking, is it?"

"No," I assured him. "I want to have kids with you too. I know some couples like to wait until they're adjusted to married life before they have kids, but we don't really need that, do we? We've been adjusting to each other for years."

I ruined my statement by yawning widely. Quil chuckled and tightened his arm that was still around me. He kissed the top of my head.

"We have an hour ahead of us…why don't you get some sleep." Quil told me. I didn't need any further encouragement. I put my head on his shoulder, closed my eyes, and promptly fell asleep.

I tiredly trudged through the airport once we landed and barely kept my eyes open as we checked into the hotel. We were directed to our cottage which was secluded from the rest of the hotel and other cottages. I entered the main room and was greeted by the warm colors of the wooden interior. There was a large stone fireplace in the center of the room. I walked through the living room, past the built in kitchen, and made my way to the bathroom. The whirlpool tub that was mentioned in the brochure was big enough for me and Quil with plenty of room left over. I checked out the huge bedroom next and caught sight of the queen size bed in the middle of the room.

I laid in the middle of the bed, arranging myself into a seductive position. Quil entered the room carrying our suitcases. I gave him a come-hither smile which was ruined by another stupid yawn. Quil smiled as he set the suitcases down.

"Why don't you get some sleep?"

"Oh…you don't want…" I trailed off embarrassingly.

Quil leaned over the bed and kissed me. "I want to…believe me. But I'd rather wait until you're a little more coherent."

I felt my crabbiness return. "Why aren't you tired?"

"Years of only getting a few hours sleep after patrolling. My body's used to it," Quil responded.

He kissed my forehead before leaving the room. I turned on my side and fell asleep again. I woke up a few hours later feeling completely refreshed and more than ready to begin my honeymoon.

"Quil?" I called out.

I looked around the room. I noticed that our suitcases were unpacked. Looking around, I saw a note on the pillow next to me.

_Went for a walk. Be back soon. _

_Love you, _

_Quil_

I got up and grabbed my silk robe and went into the bathroom. I noticed that all my bathroom items were neatly laid out on the counter. I brushed my teeth and took a quick shower. Once my hair was dried, I put my robe on and headed back to the bedroom. I was going to put on some clothes, but instead went straight out to the balcony attached to the bedroom.

It overlooked a lake. Looking in the distance, I could see the powdery tips of the Rocky Mountains. I shivered slightly as the cold air penetrated my robe, but I loathed the idea of going inside. This area of the lake was completely secluded from the rest of the hotel. It was like we had the land to ourselves.

Warm arms suddenly surrounded me. I felt Quil's warm breath on my neck seconds before his lips pressed to my now wildly beating pulse.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Ateara. Nice to see you're finally up," Quil said, nuzzling my neck.

"Sorry…I didn't mean to sleep so long," I murmured, angling my head to give him better access to that area.

"You needed the sleep," Quil said matter-of-factually. His hands slid up my arms so that they rested on my shoulders.

I could feel the peaks of my aching breasts press against the material of my robe. Quil's hands moved slowly down to cup my sensitive flesh through the silky material, kneading my skin in his hot hands. His fingers rolled and gently pinched the hardened tips that waited for him there. My head arched back to rest against his muscular chest. When the sensual teasing became too much, I groaned. Quil's caressing hands slipped under the folds of my robe and slid down towards my stomach. The belt holding my robe together parted weakly away as he continued towards the apex of my thighs. I grabbed his hands before they could explore any further.

"Quil," I said in a breathless tone. "We can't out here. It's the middle of the day. Anyone could see us."

"We're completely secluded. Besides…if anyone did come close to this area, which they aren't supposed to, I'd hear them," Quil said against my ear. His tongue darted out and ran along the outline of my ear, causing me to shiver in delight. My hands let go of his.

His fingers bypassed my damp, needy area and slid partly down my thighs. Quil continued to nibble and suck on my neck as he ran the tips of his fingers along my sensitive skin until they met the very center of my body. One hand brushed lightly over my aching flesh and continued back up to my right breast. He moved the robe so that my body was exposed to his seeking fingers. He found the erect peak of my breast and began circling it, running his warm palm over it again and again.

His other hand rested at the junction of my thighs. His fingers suddenly moved so that they could play with my womanly bud. I could feel him press and pull on the aroused flesh. I could barely take it when I felt a finger slide into the warm haven of my body. He then inserted another finger inside me.

His fingers began to move back and forth, each time brushing against an area that sent waves of pleasure over my skin. My hips moved to match his fingers. I reached down to grab his hips to steady myself. My head remained plastered against his chest. My breathing picked up as I felt my body begin to climax. My eyes rolled as I flew to another universe. A place that only Quil could take me too.

Quil removed his fingers from my center and wrapped both arms around my stomach. If he wasn't holding me up, I was pretty sure I would have collapsed to the ground.

"Do you want to add another experience to our educational lessons?" Quil asked, licking my ear lobe.

I nodded weakly. At this point I would have done anything he asked. I was still so lost in the pleasure he had just given me. I could feel Quil's straining shaft against my bottom. I pushed back against him. I felt his arousal throb in return. Quil groaned and grabbed my hips and began to thrust against me. His lips moved to my neck and sucked on the skin there.

"Tell me if anything makes you uncomfortable," Quil said, before sliding my robe completely off my body.

His hands returned to my skin and glided down my arms. He grabbed both my hands in his. Leaning forward, causing me to bend as well, he placed my hands on the balcony rail. As I remained bent over, his seeking hands returned to my breasts, his palms and then his fingers teasing the pebbled flesh there.

Quil stepped away for a moment. I heard the sound of his shorts hitting the pavement. He stood behind me and reached around to play with my warm center again. The sensations he created were so amazing that I had to rest my forehead against the rail. I felt Quil part my thighs widely as he placed himself at my entrance. He teased me for a minute, rubbing himself back and forth against me until I wanted to scream in need.

"Claire, are you sure you don't want me to use a condom…I bought some while you were sleeping…"

My answer was to reach between my legs and brush my fingers against his hardness. Quil muttered something incoherently as my fingers teased him. I finally wrapped my hand around him as much as I could and held him firmly against me. That was my answer to his question and Quil understood.

He lifted my one thigh so that it was over his. I moved my hand back to the rail for support. Grabbing onto my hips, Quil slid his hot swollen flesh into me. I felt my body expand around him to accommodate his size.

His movement was slow and sensual. He pushed in, burying himself to the hilt before pulling almost all the way out again. He continued this pace for a time as the friction began to build for both of us. My hands were white on the rail as Quil finally lost control and set an almost desperate rhythm. Our bodies moved together in total harmony. I could feel my insides begin to clench around him as my world exploded for a second time. Quil soon joined me as I felt him convulse inside me, his hot seed spilling into my womb.

Carefully pulling out of me, Quil picked me up in his arms and carried me into the bedroom. He brought me over to the bed and laid me gently on top of the sheets. He laid down next to me and wrapped me in his arms. He kissed my cheeks, my eyelids, my forehead…basically anywhere he could as I continued to shiver from the completion he had given me.

After about an hour, Quil leaned down to tenderly kiss my lips. Eagerly, he said, "I have a present for you."

He went to his side of the bed and opened up the nightstand drawer. I stared as the abundant muscles in his shoulders rippled as he reached inside for something. He pulled out a small rectangular box that was wrapped in silver wrapping paper. He handed it to me almost nervously.

Biting my lip and smiling at him, I carefully unwrapped the small gift. I opened the lid and looked inside. Resting against a blanket of cotton was a tiny, hand-carved wooden wolf. It was stained chocolate brown.

"Thank you Quil…it's beautiful." I told him, holding it in the middle of my palm.

"I made it myself, though Jacob's a lot better at that kind of thing," Quil murmured, watching my expression carefully.

"I love it…its perfect." I assured him, reaching over to kiss his lips. Quil allowed me to kiss him for a minute before he pulled away reluctantly. He curled my hand carefully around the wolf so that my fingers were grasping it.

"You see…that wolf is me, or at least what I've been while I waited for you. And now that we're married…I'm giving my wolf to you. I don't need it anymore."

"I'm not sure I follow…" I admitted.

Taking a deep breath, Quil said, "I'm leaving the pack. I already told Nate that I'm not going to phase anymore."

I shook my head. "Quil, I can't let you do this."

Quil smiled at that. "It's done. You see…for years, I held onto my wolf side for one reason and one reason only. I stayed a wolf for as long as I have because of you. Now that you're grown up, I don't need to continue with that life anymore."

Quil picked up my hand that was holding the wolf figurine and kissed it before he said, "You know when Jacob and Embry first phased, they stayed away from me because it was too dangerous for me to be around them. When I phased, I didn't think there was anything better than being a wolf, because it gave me my brothers. But I was wrong. Being a wolf gave me the best gift in the world. It gave me you. I've had some great times being a part of the pack. But now that we're married, I want nothing more than to grow old with you."

I looked down at the symbolic wolf in my hand and then back at Quil.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked.

"Absolutely."

I put my treasured gift carefully on the nightstand next to my side of the bed along with the box it came in. I turned back to Quil and wrapped my arms around his neck. He fell back against the pillows taking me with him. I moved my hands so that they cupped the back of his head.

"Thank you Quil…I love you," I told him right before I bent my head to suck his lower lip in between mine. Quil in turn moved my hips so that my feminine core was resting against his rigidness.

"Besides…" Quil said as he moved his mouth to kiss the space between my collarbone. "I don't want to share the intimate details of my honeymoon with the rest of the pack."

"Hmm…I'm liking your retirement better and better," I muttered, trying not to groan as Quil moved his seeking mouth to the hardened point of my breast. I managed to get out, "I suppose I should give you some type of retirement present."

"Oh, I think I deserve that," Quil responded as he moved to suckle on my other breast.

I backed away from his seeking mouth and reached for his manhood. I placed it at my readied entrance. Carefully, I lowered myself until I could feel his possession of me. Quil grabbed my sides and flipped me over and set a pace that soon became frenzied. My body began to spasm as it exploded in sweet release. I felt his eruption at the same time. We laid there trying to gather our breath. Quil eventually turned over on his back, taking me with him so that our bodies were still connected. Tiredly, I rested on top of him, my head against his chest.

Chuckling, Quil kissed the top of my head and held me close. "That was a great present."

We eventually dressed and made our way to the main lodge for a candlelit dinner. We were seated at a corner booth that offered privacy. The booth was really a half circle. The table was covered in a white cloth covering. Quil and I sat next to each other. Physical contact seemed to be a necessity now.

The waiter brought us a bottle of Cristal, compliments of the Cullen family. I wasn't too sure about drinking as my last two attempts at alcohol had resulted in me vomiting. I'd actually been surprised that I had even been allowed to drink during my bachelorette party given that I wasn't 21 in the States yet. The bar's owner hadn't even carded me.

At least in Canada, I was allowed to drink legally. I decided to try the Cristal as it seemed only celebrates ever drank that brand. Quil and I both sipped at it, savoring the expensive Champaign. When a tiny amount spilled over and ran down my chin, Quil leaned in and licked it off. I wanted to jump him right then and there.

The waiter came over and took our order. As soon as he left, Quil wrapped his arm around my back so that his hand could grip my arm farthest away from him. He moved his hand so that his warm fingers cupped the front of my arm. He began to run his fingers up and down my flesh, creating the most tantalizing sensations. If that wasn't bad enough, his knuckles kept brushing the side of my breast teasingly.

His other hand moved casually under the table to rest on my knee. The table cloth hid the action from view. At first, he left his hand where it was before moving it slowly up the interior of my thigh. Given that I was wearing a skirt, Quil had easy access as he made his way up to my panty covered center. My eyes widened as I looked around the restaurant to see if anyone noticed what we were doing. No one seemed to be paying attention.

"Try to keep still and quiet," Quil murmured against my ear.

I looked at him, my breaths shallow. I tried to give him a glare to warn him not to go too far. Even as I did this, my legs parted on their own accord. Quil laughed wickedly. He ran his thumbnail over the protruding bud he could feel through my panties. He pulled on it through the cloth. My hips bucked and I sat up straight and moved around to make it look like I was fidgeting. Quil's fingers moved my panties to the side. He inserted first one finger and then another into my warm sheath.

"Oh God honey, you're so wet," Quil groaned.

Hearing him say those words turned me on even more. His other hand was now blatantly playing with my breast. I slouched in my seat, half hoping that no one would see us. The other half of me didn't care who saw as long as Quil continued to touch me. My slouching movement gave Quil better access to my inner sanctum. His fingers kept hitting a spot inside me that sent the most delicious shivers over my entire body. I tried in vain to keep my hips still but I couldn't help moving as my body finally shuddered and I convulsed around his hand. I closed my eyes and gripped the side of the table as I continued to climax in the corner of a crowded restaurant. I remained slouched as Quil removed his arms from around my back and thigh area. He casually took a sip of his Champaign.

I was still sitting half out of my seat when our food was brought to the table. The waiter gave me an appraising look as I weakly sat up. He placed the food in front of us and left with a knowing look on his face. My cheeks burned. I watched Quil dig into his food. He looked like he didn't have a care in the world. He looked at me and smirked. That was it!

"You know darling," I said, before reaching down to grab his aroused flesh through his pants. "Revenge can be very sweet."

"I'm looking forward to it," Quil replied, moving his hand under the table cloth, holding me against him. "But if you want to return the favor…well, let's just say…if I reach the point you did, it will be a lot more noticeable what we were up to when we leave."

Dammit! That was so unfair! I removed my hand and began to eat my dinner as I thought of the different ways I was going to exact my revenge. A couple of weeks before the wedding, I researched on the Internet ways to seduce a guy. I decided to put some of my new found knowledge into action.

I didn't speak to Quil for the rest our dinner even though he tried starting a conversation several times. He began to look at me with a mixture of guilt and worry as I continued my silent treatment after we left the restaurant and were walking back to our place.

When we reached the cottage, I walked straight into the bedroom and went in search of what I was looking for. Quil followed me, looking almost pale.

"Look, I'm sorry for what I did…I shouldn't have taken it that far," Quil said in a pleading tone. When I didn't respond, Quil said, "Please Claire…I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

"That would be a pity," I muttered as I continued to search for what I was looking for. He did a double take when I said that, but I was happy to see his color start to return.

"Aha." I finally found what I was looking for. I held two scarves in my hand.

"You…on the bed," I ordered.

"Claire…" Quil said in an unsure tone.

"I'm your imprint, right? Don't you have to do everything I ask?" I replied.

"In theory," Quil replied in an amused tone.

"Good…then get on the bed," I demanded, gesturing to it with my finger.

He did as I instructed. I went over to him and lifted his shirt off his head. I then took one arm and tied it to one of the wooden bed posts. I did the same to his other arm. I bit my lip suddenly unsure of myself. Reading about it was one thing, actually doing what I had in mind was something entirely different.

"Lose your nerve?" Quil asked, his voice gruff.

He looked at me in a way that reminded me so much of the wolf just beneath the surface. I knew that my bindings wouldn't stop him if he wanted to reach for me. Quil was impossibly strong. But he also liked to give me control whenever I wanted to be assertive. It was how I regained so much confidence in myself after I'd been attacked.

I quickly pushed those memories away as I stared at Quil. Everything about him was so incredibly male. His scent…his physique…his deep voice. I could listen to him speak all day. I reached my hand out and ran it along his muscled torso. His skin seemed to react everywhere I touched. I loved seeing his body respond that way. It made me feel so feminine knowing how much he wanted me.

I moved my nose to his throat and breathed him in. I darted my tongue out and tasted him. He tasted exactly how he smelled. It was like an aphrodisiac to my senses. I straddled his chest and moved my lips to his jaw before kissing the tip of his nose then his chin. I moved my lips to the corner of his mouth and kissed it before switching to the other side. Quil tried to move his head to capture my lips with his, but I evaded him. He groaned in frustration.

For showing his impatience, I rewarded him by licking his lips with my tongue. His mouth immediately opened, his tongue mating with mine. I eventually pulled back so that I could move to examine the rest of his body. I slid back so that my bottom rested against his throbbing member. I studied his body for a moment. I took in the hard contours, the developed abs. Quil's body reminded me of a Greek statue, only his skin was dark and so warm and vibrant.

I pressed my lips to his neck and sucked on the skin before moving my head to his masculine nipples. I took one in my mouth and nibbled it while my fingernail grazed the other one. Quil groaned. I looked up to see that his hands were now curled into tight fists. I moved my mouth to his other nipple and proceeded to lavish it with my tongue before pulling on it lightly with my teeth.

"Oh God," Quil muttered.

I moved my seeking tongue down even further until I reached his belly button. I kissed the small indent there, before lifting off his body. Taking a deep breath to steady my nerves, I reached for the snap on his pants. I unfastened it and worked the zipper down. I carefully pulled Quil's pants and boxers down. He lifted his hips off the bed to help me. When I reached his feet, I quickly undid his shoes and took off his socks. I finished taking off his pants and then turned to look back at my husband with unabashed eyes.

His obvious need for me enthralled and terrified me sometimes. He was so big. Even while doing my research on seduction, I came across pictures of male nude models. None compared to Quil's size. I reached out and ran a tentative hand along his shaft where it stood proudly waiting for me. Quil closed his eyes, his hands turning to grip the headboard.

I moved my head close to his arousal. My hair brushed against it and I heard Quil swear under his breath. I used two hands to encircle him and began to pleasure him the way he had taught me a couple of months ago. His hips began to thrust in time with my hand movements, but it wasn't enough for me this time. While we had been living together, Quil had pleasured me more than once with his mouth. I wanted to return the gesture.

I placed my lips against the underside of his rock hard flesh. I heard the headboard crack as Quil felt my mouth against him. His eyes flew open, his stomach muscles clenching.

"Claire, you don't have to do this," he told me.

"I want to…consider it part of my educational experience," I replied.

Quil nodded slowly, his stomach relaxing only slightly. I returned to what I was doing. I ran my lips up and down him. I finally got up the nerve and tasted him with my tongue. Quil jerked and groaned again, louder this time. He tasted incredible. I finally worked my way to his tip and ran my tongue across it.

"Oh fuck," Quil muttered when I did it a second time.

Taking a deep breath, I placed my mouth around him. I was only able to go so far…he was just too big, so I worshipped him as best as I could. My hands also continued to work their magic on the rest of his arousal.

"Claire," Quil warned after a short time. "I'm not going to last much longer."

I quickly got up and straddled him. I screamed in ecstasy as his hot hardness filled me. It was the most unbelievable feeling. I only thrust a few times but it was enough to send him over the edge. I was already incredibly aroused myself from the pleasure I had given him. I thrust a few more times before I joined Quil in sensual bliss.

Reaching up, I untied his hands. He carefully disconnected our bodies and wrapped me in his arms, kissing me deeply.

"I love you so much," Quil whispered. "Thank you for what you just did."

"I love you too," I replied, moving my head to kiss his chest tiredly. We soon fell asleep in exhaustion.

The rest of our honeymoon passed in a haze of pleasure. We explored the woods around the cottage and went out to eat several times, though we never did a repeat of what happened in the restaurant our first night. We used the main lodge's heated pool a few times and just relaxed and had fun when we weren't busy seducing each other.

On our last night, Quil had suggested we play poker. The loser had to do whatever the winner wanted. Of course I lost. Per Quil's request, I had to put on a fashion show for him. As he had unpacked all my lingerie, he wanted to see me model each outfit. We made it to the third outfit before Quil couldn't take anymore.

He had been sitting in a chair in the living room area when I came out wearing the black lace corset with detachable garters. I also had on black stiletto shoes. Quil took one look at me and carried me over to the couch. He didn't even bother to remove my clothes. All he did was take off my sheer panties before he entered me. Neither of us lasted long that time.

When we finally made it home it was to the sad news that Ryan had left the area. He had gone back east to visit his family. He hadn't been back there much since he'd imprinted on Gracie 11 years ago. Nate told us that Ryan thought it was best to give Gracie space after what had happened at the wedding. He didn't even say goodbye to her. He just left one night after telling Nate he was leaving.

Collin and Lindsey were gone too. They decided on another honeymoon even though they just had one a couple of months ago. I was happy for them. I had worried over Collin's behavior with Amber at the reception, though I didn't think he cared about Amber in any particular way.

Quil and I adjusted to married life without a hitch. Well, that wasn't true. A couple of weeks after we got back from our honeymoon, I got my period. I didn't know why it upset me so much, but I balled my eyes out when I realized I wasn't pregnant. The same thing happened the second month as well.

Quil comforted me each time and told me not to worry, that it was bound to happen someday and we had a lot of time still. I was worried though because I had always had problems with irregular periods. It was actually ironic that my period was steady for two months straight. And then one day I discovered something…_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Quil's POV

"So I was thinking maybe we should go house hunting," Claire said. We were laying on the couch together watching television.

"Why? This house getting too small for the two of us?" I joked, holding Claire close.

We had been married for three months now. Three months of sheer wedded bliss. The only thing that dampened my spirits was that Embry had left immediately after our wedding due to "business" and Ryan still hadn't returned to the area.

"I love this house." Claire said, interrupting my thoughts. "It's just that there's no room for a nursery."

"Well, it's not like we have to worry about that just yet." I assured her.

"Umm…Quil?"

"Yeah?"

"You should probably start to worry," Claire responded.

"Why would I worr--"

I stopped as it dawned on me what Claire was saying. I glanced down at her and saw the proud expression on her face. I tilted her head up so that she was looking me in the eyes.

"Are you trying to tell me you're pregnant?"

"Congratulations papa."

I carefully shifted away from Claire before jumping off the couch to turn and stare at her.

"Are you serious?"

"I'm serious. The doctor called me this morning and confirmed it."

My eyes traveled down to her stomach area. There was nothing different. But somewhere tucked safely inside was our baby. I looked at Claire and panicked. She was so delicate. Could her body handle this?

"You should put your feet up," I told her, grabbing the couch pillows and shoving them under her feet. What else did pregnant women need? I thought about what my sister went through when she was pregnant. "Do you want some pickles and ice cream, because I can run to the store."

"Pickles and ice cream?" Claire wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Where'd you hear of that? From your sister?"

"Maybe…why do you ask?"

"Your sister once told me how much she loves to eat chocolate around her period. I remember when I first got mine, you were always trying to force feed me chocolate bars."

"Oh…" I felt my ears turn red.

"Actually," Claire yawned dramatically. "I'm tired. Could you carry me to our room?"

I immediately picked Claire up. She wrapped her arms tightly around my neck as I carried her to our bed. I placed her gently on the mattress and went to move away, but Claire wouldn't let go.

"You're not going to leave, are you? What if I get cold?"

"In the middle of July?" I snickered, realizing what she was up to. I obligingly laid down next to her.

"Hmm…good point," Claire said, sitting up and ripping off her shirt. She reached over and pushed me so that I was flat on my back. She moved over me, straddling my hips.

"So…" Claire said as she unclipped her bra and slowly pulled it off. "When can we go house hunting?"

"Tomorrow," I groaned, bringing her close to me so that I could kiss one of the breasts she revealed.

Of course she would get her way. How could I possibly deny my imprint anything?

_A/N – Well my friends, the epilogue is next, and then this story will be complete. *sniff* __**Please review!**_


	43. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Quil's POV

"Another push," the doctor ordered.

Claire moaned quietly before leaning forward to push as the doctor instructed. She gripped my hand tightly. Thank God I had wolf strength, otherwise I had a feeling my hand would be broken by now.

Claire's labor had progressed too quickly. The doctor hadn't been able to give her an epidural and she was doing it naturally. I wrapped my arm around her back to help support her.

"The shoulders are out now," the doctor told us. "You're doing great Claire. One more push."

Tears ran down Claire's cheeks. I could barely stand the pain she was in. Her pain was my pain, and I felt sick every time she had even the slightest ache. I was never, _ever_ going to put Claire through this again.

Claire made a sobbing noise and her face showed strain as she pushed one more time. Seconds later the air was filled with the sound of a newborn's cry. The doctor held the baby up for us to see.

"Say hello to your daughter," he told us before placing the baby on Claire's stomach.

I was given scissors to cut the umbilical cord. My daughter opened her eyes and looked at me suspiciously as though she knew I was about to cut off her food supply.

I could hardly take my eyes off of her to see what I was doing. Aside from her mother, she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in my life. I was instantly in love with her and knew she already had me wrapped around her incredibly tiny finger.

The nurse took the baby away to clean her up and weigh and measure her. Our daughter was soon returned, wrapped in a blanket, and placed in Claire's arms. Claire was still crying, only this time with tears of joy.

"Isn't she perfect Quil?" Claire said, as she held our daughter to her breast to feed her.

"Almost as perfect as you." I told her before leaning in close to whisper in Claire's ear, "I love you…thank you for our daughter."

Claire turned her head so that her lips brushed mine. "I love you too," she said before kissing me more firmly.

We broke away and I looked down at our baby and picked up her small hand, running my thumb across it. She was a miniature of Claire, right down to her caramel brown hair. But her eyes were shaped like mine. She was incredibly beautiful. Even if she wasn't my child, I would have thought the same thing.

Leaning down, I kissed my daughter's head and whispered, "Welcome to the world, Kayley Nicole."

After a while, I left Claire to tell everyone the news. I walked into the waiting room and looked around at my family. Both my parents and Claire's parents were waiting for an update, along with Claire's maternal grandparents, Roger and Eva, my grandfather, Quil Sr., Claire's siblings, Nick and Cora, my sister Kya and her husband, and Sam, Emily, Nate, and Gracie.

"It's a girl!" I boasted proudly.

Cheers erupted as everyone came over to congratulate me. I knew I was grinning like an idiot but I didn't care. Knowing that both Claire and our daughter were healthy and safe was all I could ever ask for.

Our families stuck around for an hour, cooing when they saw Kayley, and giving hugs to Claire and me. Claire soon couldn't put off sleeping any longer and the family quickly dispersed. A nurse came in and took Kayley to the nursery.

I stayed with Claire, pulling up a chair next to the bed so that I could hold her hand as she slept. I kissed her soft palm several times and just marveled at her…my Claire…the mother of my child. I couldn't believe our daughter was here! I couldn't wait to get them both home.

We had decided to add on to our house instead of move. That house had too many memories for us. It was the place where I met Claire for the first time when she was only two, where we shared our first passionate kiss during her prom. And it was where we made love for the first time.

Jared, Paul, and Sam all helped with the add-on as they had construction experience, and we now had a spacious master bedroom and bath in addition to a second bedroom…just in case we wanted more kids down the road. And after seeing my daughter, I wanted more…lots more. I'd just have to make sure the doctor knocked Claire out first the next time she went into labor so she didn't feel any pain.

A few hours later they brought Kayley in so that Claire could feed her again. I climbed up on the bed and wrapped Claire in my arms as she cradled our daughter. I watched Kayley suckle hungrily at her mother's breast.

Claire winced, "Well, she seems to have her father's appetite."

I laughed, but I couldn't look away from the vision of mother and child. Claire finally stopped feeding Kayley and burped her before cuddling her close. As I stared at Claire, I couldn't help but reflect on my life with her so far.

When Claire was younger, I could never envision that this day would happen. When she became an unruly teenager, I still couldn't picture this day in my head. And after I fell in love with her, I could only dream that we'd someday reach this stage in our lives. And it finally happened. I had everything I ever wanted all because of the woman in my arms.

My thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of my pack brothers. Nate came back in and brought Azra and Seth with him. They deemed her cute, but scrawny. Next came Lindsey and Collin. Lindsey fussed and said she wanted a baby too. When they left, Collin had a slightly dazed expression on his face. Devlin and Brady came in next. Kayley opened her eyes and looked warily at the newcomers who were interrupting her sleep.

Devlin looked at my daughter and said, "Uh..she's cute, I guess…you know…for a baby."

I rolled my eyes at the teen. Cute? That's all he could come up? Cute didn't do her justice.

I looked over at Brady and froze. He had his mouth hanging open as he stared at Kayley who was staring right back at him. He looked like he had been hit over the head with a sledgehammer.

"Shit!" I swore softly.

"Quil!" Claire objected, covering one of Kayley's little ears with her palm.

"Sorry," I apologized before turning back to glare at Brady. Claire followed my gaze.

"Did he just…"

"Yeah," I told her. Devlin snorted and quickly left the room. Brady didn't move.

"But she's only a few hours old." Claire replied.

"Yep," I responded before looking over at Claire to see how she was handling everything. Was she freaking out?

"Well…here we go again." Claire said before laughing softly. She looked at me and leaned over to kiss my lips. "Quil, has anyone ever told you that you worry too much?"

I watched as my wife brought Kayley in close so that she could kiss our daughter on the forehead.

"Kayley love, you may have to deal with an early imprint…" Claire said, before staring at me in a way that made my heart catch.

Smiling, she looked back down at our child and whispered softly, "Take it from me though…you couldn't ask for anything better."

**THE END**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

I've had an incredible time writing this story, and I thank all of you who stuck with it for so long. It meant a lot that you were so supportive, especially when it came to the "sexual assault" part of the story. That was really difficult to write, and I know I lost some readers with it, so I really appreciate those of you who stayed with the story for so long and also those who continuously commented on it. This story ended up being a lot bigger than I anticipated. I never imagined I'd get the response this has story received. I also never planned for the story to be as long as it was. It turned into the size of a small book, lol. Quil and Claire have been a huge part of my life for four months now. I'm really sad that the story is over, but now it's time to focus on Embry.

Now, about Embry's story…the only way for me to write the story so that it fit the timeframe of Quil's story was to divide it into two parts. Part I will cover what you think you learned in Quil's story. There were a lot of things that happened to Embry after he imprinted that I was deliberately evasive about. Part II will pick up around the time of Quil's wedding. So here are some questions for you to ponder in the meantime:

1) Right after Embry imprinted he started sleeping around. How did he deal with the physical pain that caused him?

2) What is Embry's mystery job? Is he a gigolo?

3) How will Embry find happiness when his imprint is Jacob's happily married sister, Rebecca?

I have a lot of drama, angst, and romance in store for you along with a few surprises. I hope you check the story out!

In regards to the other storylines I had going in "Early Imprint," I know the ending to this story doesn't answer a lot of your questions about the other characters (Ryan/Gracie for example), but this is _Quil's story_. Quil's perspective on things has reached an end. The other characters will get their own time to shine. As you've probably guessed if you read my previous story "First Imprint (Sam's Story)," all my stories are connected. The Sam and Emily I created in "First Imprint" were the same ones in "Early Imprint." Nate was born in "First Imprint." In other words, I'm writing an "Imprint Saga" so all my original characters (Ryan/Gracie/Nate/Meena/Gabe/Amber) will feature in the next segment of the saga, which is called, "Forbidden Imprint (Embry's Story)."

**That said…this is the final chapter of "Early Imprint." I'd love to hear from all of you…ghostreaders included. I'm curious how many people were reading this story, so please leave a review. (even if it's just to say..."Hey, I was following this story…")**

Thanks again everyone! It's been a great ride!


	44. Author's Note

Author's Note

Thank you again to everyone who supported this story and to those who left me a review on the Epilogue.

Someone asked me to add this author's note once my new story "Forbidden Imprint (Embry's Story) was up. I have now posted the first chapter. I hope you check it out.

http://www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/5326527/1/


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